The Afghan Taliban regime lodged a strong protest on Wednesday with Islamabad following air strikes conducted by Pakistani jets near the Pak-Afghan border. The Afghan foreign ministry stated that these strikes violated Afghanistan’s territorial sovereignty, which it considers a “red line.”

According to the foreign ministry, the Taliban summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires and delivered a formal protest note regarding the bombings in the Bermal district of Paktika province, just across the Durand Line. The ministry condemned the “aggression by Pakistani military” while an Afghan government emissary was in Kabul for discussions, alleging that the strikes aimed to undermine trust between the two nations.

In a more forceful statement, the Afghan defense ministry claimed that most casualties included ordinary citizens and refugees from Pakistan’s Waziristan region.

While Pakistan’s Foreign Office and military spokespersons have not officially commented on the air strikes, a senior Pakistani security official told AFP that the strikes targeted “terrorist hideouts” and resulted in the deaths of at least 20 militants.

The airstrikes coincided with a visit by Pakistan’s special envoy, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, who met with Afghan officials, including Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and Foreign Minister Muhammad Muttaqi, to discuss bilateral security concerns, particularly regarding the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Despite the bombing incident, Ambassador Sadiq continued his discussions in Kabul with Deputy Prime Minister Maulavi Muhammad Kabir and Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi, focusing on peace, security, and economic relations.

This escalation follows a deadly TTP attack in South Waziristan over the weekend that killed 16 members of the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Pakistani security officials indicated that this attack was a significant factor prompting the air strikes, which targeted camps linked to Pakistani militant commanders and a TTP media center.

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The Afghan Taliban acknowledged that some victims were refugees from Waziristan, seen by Pakistan as a euphemism for TTP militants, but insisted that many casualties were innocent civilians. In contrast, TTP-affiliated social media accounts disputed Pakistani claims, asserting that their commanders remained unharmed and even shared a video of their media head to prove it, though the authenticity of such claims could not be independently verified.