ISLAMABAD: Pakistan conducted precision aerial and drone strikes against military targets at 10 locations in Afghanistan in response to the drone incursion from Afghan territory, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said on Thursday.
In a statement posted on X, Tarar said Pakistan’s air defence systems had detected, tracked and neutralised eight drones that had entered its airspace from Afghanistan a day earlier, before they could reach their intended targets.
Tarar strongly condemned what he described as a “deliberate and unlawful” incursion from Afghan territory, saying it constituted a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “Islamabad had exercised its right to self-defence in response”, he added.
He said Pakistan subsequently conducted precision aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan that were used for launching and storing the drones.
According to the minister, the strikes were deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate and were limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan.
He said Pakistan had repeatedly conveyed its concerns to the Afghan Taliban regime and its interlocutors over the continued presence of terrorist sanctuaries and support networks on Afghan soil.
Instead of dismantling those networks and taking credible and verifiable action against groups operating from Afghan territory, Tarar said, the Afghan Taliban authorities had escalated the situation through hostile drone operations.
Pakistan ‘shoots down eight Afghan drones’ near Torkham, Kohat
“Pakistan will neither accept nor tolerate attacks launched from Afghan territory, whether by terrorist groups or by the Afghan Taliban regime itself,” he said.
The minister said any violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty would be met with an immediate and decisive response, adding that threats, denials or attempts to deflect responsibility would not alter the facts or constrain its right to defend its territory, people and national security.
He called upon the Afghan Taliban regime to immediately cease all hostile activity against Pakistan and fulfil its international obligations by taking effective, concrete, verifiable and sustained action against terrorist entities operating from Afghan soil.
“Afghan territory must not be used to launch attacks or conduct hostile operations against Pakistan,” he said.
Atta Tarar said Pakistan did not seek escalation and remained committed to regional peace, dialogue and constructive engagement.
He, however, said the commitment should not be mistaken for weakness or unlimited tolerance of hostile actions.
“Pakistan will defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the lives of its citizens with full resolve and will take all necessary measures to protect them,” he said, adding that any further provocative act by the Afghan Taliban would be met with a firm and resolute response.
