A blast was reported from the I-8 sector of Islamabad in Pakistan as locals shared videos online claiming that windows of several buildings had shattered due to the impact. According to reports, the explosion happened due to a drone strike by Afghanistan. While no casualties were reported, the infrastructural damage has been reported by locals.
According to some social media handles quoting senior Pakistani officials, two UAVs (drones) loitering near Faizabad Interchange—the junction between Rawalpindi and Islamabad—were shot down by air defence systems and following the incident, the airspace over Islamabad was shut temporarily.
Earlier today, Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defence said that it has conducted strikes on Pakistani military centres and installations in Kohat district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in retaliation to the airstrikes launched by Islamabad on Thursday night, which resulted in several civilian casualties on the Afghan side.
According to the statement released by Kabul, the military fort in Kohat and the war command centre along the Durand Line were targeted during the strike.
In a statement shared on X, Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defence stated, “In response to last night’s incursions by the Pakistani military regime, Afghan air forces conducted strikes this morning on strategic military centers and installations of the Pakistani army in the Kohat area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
In another post on X, the ministry wrote, “During these strikes, the Kohat military fort was struck, while the war command center along the Durand Line located approximately two kilometres from the fort along with the office of the fort’s commander, was also precisely targetted.”
“As a result of these strikes, the fort’s military installations, the command centre, depots, and soldiers’ residential quarters were destroyed, resulting in significant human and material losses,” it added.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Friday that Pakistan carried out fresh military strikes across multiple Afghan provinces, including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, and Paktika, resulting in civilian casualties, including women and children.
“Continuing the pattern of previous aggressions and crimes, the Pakistani military regime has once again bombed Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Paktika, and some other areas. In some places, it targeted civilians’ homes, leading to the death of women and children, and in other places, it targeted empty deserts and uninhabited areas,” Mujahid posted on X.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed on Friday that at least four people were killed and 14 others injured in airstrikes in Pul-e-Charkhi area in Afghanistan’s Kabul on Thursday night. It also called for an immediate cessation in hostilities to stop further loss of civilian life.
“UNAMA documented at least four civilian deaths and 14 injured, including women and children, as a result of airstrikes in Pul-e-Charkhi area in Kabul Afghanistan last night. We continue to call for an immediate cessation in hostilities to prevent further loss of civilian life,” UNAMA posted on X.
“Civilians, mostly women and children, continue to pay the price for the latest escalation in cross-border violence. Since 26 February, UNAMA has recorded at least 75 civilians killed and 193 injured in Afghanistan as a result of ongoing armed clashes,” it added. (With IANS inputs)
