Swapna Kumbar , Bengaluru - Afghanistan’s Taliban government says it carried out overnight airstrikes on ISIS-linked targets in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, days after deadly Pakistani strikes on Afghan territory. The operation reportedly hit sites in Qila Abdullah, Chagai and Orakzai that Kabul says were used to plan attacks against Afghanistan.

According to Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry, the strikes were aimed at Islamic State hideouts and “joint facilities” used by militants and other hostile groups. The ministry said the air force used targeted overnight strikes and claimed all pre-designated objectives were successfully hit. Some reports also said the Taliban framed the operation as a response to recent Pakistani airstrikes that killed civilians in eastern Afghanistan.

Pakistan rejected Kabul’s claim, saying Afghan drones and strikes had not targeted confirmed militant sites on its side of the border. Islamabad has also accused the Taliban of allowing militant groups to operate from Afghan soil, a charge Kabul denies. The back-and-forth underscores how quickly the border conflict has expanded beyond retaliatory strikes into a wider cross-border security crisis.

The latest strikes show that neither side is willing to let the border violence fade quietly. With both governments accusing each other of sheltering militants, the risk of another round of escalation remains high.