New Delhi/Kabul, Feb 27 (.) Afghan armed forces struck a “nuclear facility” and a military base in the Kakul village near Abbottabad in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Russian news agency TASS reported.
It said “hundreds of dead and injured” have been taken to a hospital in Islamabad.
The Pakistan Military Academy is located in Kakul.
The Afghan Defence Ministry said that on Friday (today), in response to attacks by Pakistan, it conducted airstrikes on several military targets in the Pakistani capital and other locations. The Ministry said Afghan air forces struck a military camp near Faizabad city in Islamabad, the army cantonment in Nowshera, the military colony in Jamrud, and targets in Abbottabad.
“These operations were successfully carried out, hitting key military sites, centres, and installations of the Pakistani army,” the Ministry said.
The statement noted that the strikes were in retaliation for Pakistan’s aerial incursions over Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia the previous night.
Afghanistan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a special circle in Pakistan has launched a mission to destabilise the region following the recent escalation of conflict between the two countries.
Speaking at a press conference in Kandahar province on Friday, Mujahid said Afghan air forces had precisely targeted Pakistani military centres. He said Pakistan consistently attempts to fabricate pretexts for war and links its internal issues to Afghanistan.
Mujahid further stated that Pakistani aircraft are still patrolling Afghanistan’s airspace.
Following retaliatory attacks by Afghan forces on Pakistani military facilities across the Durand Line, Pakistan carried out airstrikes on targets in three Afghan provinces, including Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia. He described the Afghan operation as retaliation for Pakistan’s previous attacks in Nangarhar and Paktika earlier this week.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif described the situation as an “all-out confrontation” and warned that Pakistan’s patience had “reached its limit.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern at the escalating clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan, urging both sides to resolve their differences through diplomatic channels. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the Secretary-General, told reporters that the UN chief has called on the parties to uphold their obligations under international law and ensure the protection of civilians.
The call comes after Pakistani military airstrikes last Saturday night targeted a seminary in Paktika province and a residential house in Bihsud district, Nangarhar province. Seventeen family members, including women and children, were killed in the Bihsud attack, and several others were injured.
In retaliation, Afghanistan launched attacks on Thursday night against Pakistani military outposts across the Durand Line near the provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost, Nangarhar, Kunar, and Nuristan.
Russia called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to abandon their confrontation and return to the negotiating table, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
‘’Moscow hopes that direct military clashes on the Afghan-Pakistani border will end soon,’’ Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
China expressed its readiness to mediate and settle the escalating conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said.
India has already strongly condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory, resulting in civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramadan. ‘’It is another attempt by Pakistan to externalise its internal failures,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal had said when asked about the strikes.
India has also denounced the deaths of Afghan civilians in the attacks. Kabul claimed that Islamabad targeted civilian areas in the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in eastern Afghanistan, leading to at least 18 deaths.
“India strongly condemns Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory that have resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramadan. It is another attempt by Pakistan to externalise its internal failures,” Jaiswal had said.
. RB 1953
