The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Pakistan’s armed forces shot down eight drones that entered its airspace from Afghanistan on Wednesday, according to Pakistani security officials, amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul.
The drones were intercepted near the Torkham border crossing
and the city of Kohat, according to security sources cited by Pakistani media.
Four were shot down in areas near Torkham, while the remaining four were downed
near Kohat, the sources said.
Pakistani security officials said the drones were launched
by the Afghan Taliban and described the incident as an attempt to target public
areas. The Taliban administration in Kabul did not immediately comment on the
claim.
Dawn reported that the incident came two days after Pakistan
carried out what it described as “calibrated” airstrikes in border areas of
Afghanistan targeting alleged terrorist hideouts and safe havens. Pakistan’s
Information Ministry said more than 28 militants were killed in those strikes,
while Taliban authorities said civilians were among those targeted.
The strikes followed a major attack at the old Police Lines
in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, that killed 23 people and wounded
about 100 others, according to Pakistani authorities. Eight militants were
killed during a subsequent overnight clearance operation.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have seen worsening tensions over
the past year, including repeated cross-border clashes and accusations over
militant activity.
Islamabad has repeatedly demanded that the Taliban prevent
militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, from using Afghan
territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan. Pakistani officials say those
demands have not produced sufficient action from Kabul.
A day before the drone incident, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told a meeting of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation’s Contact Group on Afghanistan that Pakistan was seriously
concerned about the presence of more than two dozen militant groups in
Afghanistan.
Dar called for “concrete and verifiable” action to prevent
Afghan territory from being used for terrorist attacks against neighboring
countries, particularly Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office has also said that progress in
relations with Kabul depends on concrete and verifiable action against the TTP
and other militant groups operating from Afghan territory.
A U.N. Security Council-mandated monitoring report covering
December 2025 through June 2026 said continued Taliban support for the TTP had
contributed to an increase in the frequency and lethality of militant attacks
in Pakistan. The report also identified growing operational links among the
TTP, al-Qaida, Islamic State Khorasan and the Balochistan Liberation Army.
The latest incident adds to a series of reported drone
incursions. Pakistani authorities said Afghan forces launched four rudimentary
drones into Balochistan in July, all of which were shot down. Two other drones
were also downed in June in Balochistan’s Qila Abdullah and Chagai districts.
