Pakistan confirms Afghan strikes after resident says Kandahar hit

An overnight airstrike hit the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, home to the Taliban government's supreme leader, a resident told AFP early Thursday.

Pakistan's minister of information said its forces had struck 10 targets in Afghanistan -- without specifying where -- accusing its neighbour of allowing "terrorist sanctuaries" on its soil.

The latest strikes come days after a deadly bombardment by Islamabad forces in eastern Afghanistan and nearly a week after a militant attack on a police headquarters in northern Pakistan that killed at least 31 people.

A Kandahar resident told AFP Thursday they heard a jet, then a large explosion, followed by a fire in the centre of the city.

Hours later, Pakistan's Minister of Information, Attaullah Tarar, confirmed air and drone strikes.

"Pakistan conducted precision aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan," Tarar said on X.

"The strikes were deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate, and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan."

At least three civilians were killed in the strikes on eastern Afghanistan earlier this week, the United Nations reported, which Pakistan said killed 28 militants.

Local officials told AFP Thursday that Pakistan had struck in two places in eastern Afghan provinces overnight.

In Paktia, jets bombed the Afghan army's 203rd Mansouri Corps, said Mohammad Rasool Ahmadi, the governor's spokesman, without providing any information on casualties.

Airstrikes also targeted Khost province without causing casualties, said Mustaghfa Gurbaz, the governor's spokesman there.

Although there have been multiple such attacks in the border area, strikes on Afghan cities are rare.

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Mediation fails

Both Kandahar and the capital Kabul were hit when Afghanistan and Pakistan went to war in late February, with weeks of violence killing hundreds of Afghan civilians, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Although a ceasefire was agreed in March, mediation from several countries has failed to produce a lasting resolution between the neighbours.

Security issues have proved a sticking point, especially Pakistan's demand that Afghanistan curb the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group.

Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of sheltering militants behind a surge in attacks, particularly the TTP, which has waged a violent campaign against Pakistan for years.

"For years, Pakistan has repeatedly conveyed its grave concerns to the Afghan Taliban regime and its interlocutors regarding the continued presence of terrorist sanctuaries and their support networks on Afghan soil," Tarar said on X Thursday.

"Instead of dismantling these networks and taking credible and verifiable action against those using Afghan territory to perpetrate terrorism against Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban regime has chosen to escalate the situation through hostile drone operations against Pakistan."

Afghan officials deny the charge and counter that Pakistan harbours hostile groups and does not respect its sovereignty.

Pakistan strikes on the border area this week followed an attack on a police headquarters in northern Pakistan on Friday that killed at least 31 people.

That attack was claimed by a group linked to the TTP.