Afghan Taliban Launch Strikes on Pakistan Border as Tensions Rise

Afghanistan's Taliban government announced it has conducted strikes against targets along the border with Pakistan, injuring several people in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. Pakistan's military said it shot down four rudimentary drones and warned that any further provocation would receive an appropriate response. The BBC has been unable to independently confirm the attack.

The strikes come after Pakistan launched its own airstrikes on Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 28 civilians, according to the UN. The Taliban government puts the civilian death toll at 36, with more than 160 injured, and described the attack as a "cowardly act" and an "atrocity."

Tensions have reignited in the region after months of relative calm. The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire in October following weeks of deadly clashes. Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harboring terrorists who carry out attacks on its soil, a claim the Taliban government rejects. Kabul in turn has accused Islamabad of carrying out unprovoked attacks that kill civilians.

Pakistan said it carried out a ground operation along the border and airstrikes targeting militant hideouts in Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said 29 militants were killed in an operation responding to "recent terrorist attacks against innocent people."

Intermittent border clashes and airstrikes in the area have killed dozens of people in recent months, according to officials from both countries. In February, clashes between the two countries left dozens dead. In March, a Pakistani strike on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul killed hundreds. Earlier in June, Pakistan launched deadly airstrikes that killed 26 militants; the Taliban government said 13 people, mostly children, were also killed in those strikes.