Pakistan’s Ministry of Information rejected claims by Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities that they had targeted Daesh militants in border areas of Pakistan using drones, describing the assertions as “false as usual.”

In a statement, the ministry said the Afghan Taliban regime, through official statements and what it described as propaganda outlets, had claimed to target alleged Daesh Khorasan Province (ISKP) militants in border regions of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces using rudimentary drones.

The ministry said the claims were baseless and alleged that camps belonging to the Daesh and more than two dozen other militant organisations were operating from territories under the control of the Afghan Taliban authorities.

It further alleged that such groups were being patronised from within Afghanistan and said the Taliban government was issuing what it called fake statements to deflect attention from militancy affecting neighbouring countries and the wider region.

According to the ministry, a rudimentary drone operated by the Taliban regime entered Pakistani airspace near the Shinko area of Khyber. It said the drone was detected and neutralised by the Pakistan Air Force’s air defence system.

The statement came after Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry claimed on Friday that Afghan forces had launched “air strikes” against terrorist hideouts in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

In a post on X, the ministry said the targets were struck on Thursday night by the Afghan “air force” but did not provide details on how the operation was carried out.