Pakistan Attacked Khost Province With Mortars, Claims Taliban
The spokesman for the Taliban governor in Khost announced that Pakistani forces launched rocket attacks on three border villages in the Alisher district of the province on Thursday night.
The attacks took place around 1:30am and the Taliban claims to have responded to the Pakistani attacks.
Talib Mangal, spokesman for the Taliban governor in Khost, confirmed the Pakistani rocket attacks, but declined to provide details.
No details have been released about possible casualties or damage in the conflict. Pakistani officials have not commented on the matter.
Pakistani attacks in the border areas of Afghanistan, especially in the eastern provinces of Paktia, Paktika, Kunar and Khost, have occurred repeatedly in recent years.
The Pakistani Air Force carried out airstrikes on the Barmal district of Paktika province in December. The Taliban put the death toll in the attacks at 46.
The Taliban have always claimed to defend the territorial integrity of Afghanistan, but the repeated rocket attacks by Pakistan have raised questions about the group's ability to contain these attacks.
Earlier, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan would attack targets in Afghanistan in the future as part of a new military operation against militants.
He added that the attacks would be on groups that target security forces and civilians in Pakistan.
