Pakistan Confirms Taliban Drone Incursion Into Its Territory

In a post on X on Wednesday, the Afghanistan Freedom Front said it had targeted a Taliban Ranger patrol vehicle in Kunduz city.

According to the statement, the attack took place in the Bandar-e Kabul area of Karte Ariana in Kunduz.

The group claimed its recent attacks in Afghanistan’s north-eastern region had heightened security concerns among Taliban forces.

This is the third attack in two days in which the Afghanistan Freedom Front has claimed to have inflicted casualties on the Taliban.

On Monday, the group also said its fighters had attacked the Taliban police headquarters in Chah Ab district of Takhar province and the district administration building in Kishm district of Badakhshan province.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front, an armed group opposed to the Taliban, has stepped up its guerrilla attacks against the group in recent weeks.

The group previously claimed responsibility for an attack in Laghman province, after which Taliban officials held security meetings.

Taliban authorities have not yet commented on these incidents.

In a statement, the ministry claimed that the Taliban air force had targeted joint positions and facilities belonging to Islamic State and anti-Taliban groups, which it described as forces of evil and corruption, in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

The Taliban did not provide details of the reported airstrikes. However, hours earlier, media outlets under the group’s control had reported a drone strike inside Pakistan.

The Taliban claims that Islamic State maintains military and training bases in Balochistan. It has previously claimed to have targeted the group in the province.

However, this is the first time the Taliban has officially announced strikes against its political and military opponents outside Afghanistan. The group has previously referred to the National Resistance Front and the Afghanistan Freedom Front as forces of evil and corruption, the same term it used for resistance forces during the 1990s.

There are, however, no independently verified reports confirming the presence or activities of anti-Taliban groups inside Pakistan.

The Defence Ministry said one of the strikes targeted a joint facility in the Saranan area of Pishin district in Balochistan.

It claimed the site had been used to organise attacks inside Afghanistan and to provide targeting coordinates for airstrikes that resulted in civilian casualties.

The statement also said the Taliban air force carried out two additional strikes: one against an Islamic State facility in the Qambar Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and another against a joint position used by Islamic State and anti-Taliban groups in the Garm Chashma area of Chitral’s Shah Salim Valley.

Claiming that these sites had been used to plan attacks against civilians, the ministry said that, according to preliminary information, the strikes inflicted heavy casualties and significant material losses on Islamic State members, anti-Taliban groups and their supporters.

The ministry added that the operations were conducted with precision, targeted only the intended objectives and caused no civilian casualties. It warned that the Taliban’s air defence forces would strike any location used to threaten Afghanistan’s security.

The reported strikes come after Pakistan bombed the Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar. According to UNAMA, those attacks killed and injured dozens of civilians.

The Taliban has previously claimed responsibility for drone strikes inside Pakistan, including near Islamabad and Rawalpindi. This is the first time it has claimed to have carried out strikes using military aircraft.

Local sources said on Tuesday that the commander, identified as Juma, had previously served in the Taliban’s armed forces but was removed from his post several months ago.

According to the sources, he was arrested on Saturday. No further details have been released about his condition or whereabouts.

In recent months, tensions between some local Taliban commanders and the group’s leadership have increased over appointments, control of mining sites and security restrictions.

His arrest also comes as the Taliban leadership seeks to contain growing discontent in Badakhshan and examine internal disputes through a special commission.

Earlier reports indicated that several local Taliban commanders and officials in Badakhshan had been dismissed, arrested or sidelined amid disputes over appointments, mining resources and the group’s leadership policies.

According to a statement from the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, Muttaqi described relations between the Taliban and Qatar as positive and growing.

The Taliban said Muttaqi stressed the importance of continuing cooperation and expanding diplomatic relations between the two sides. He described Qatar’s mediation as important for the Taliban’s engagement with international actors.

The Foreign Ministry stated the Qatari ambassador as saying that Doha remains committed to supporting dialogue and expanding constructive engagement between the Taliban and the international community.

In recent years, Doha has become one of the main venues for political talks related to Afghanistan.

Qatar maintains close ties with the Taliban and, in addition to hosting the group’s political office, has facilitated negotiations between the Taliban, the United States and other international actors.

Doha has also hosted talks between the Taliban and Pakistan.

The organisation said targeting residential areas and civilians is a clear violation of international humanitarian law and the four Geneva Conventions and could constitute a war crime.

Rawadari expressed concern over the continued attacks on civilian areas in Afghanistan and called for an immediate end to them.

According to the organisation's findings, at least 28 civilians were killed and 176 others injured in Sunday night's airstrikes on the provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar.

The organisation also confirmed reports of civilian casualties, including women and children among the victims.

In its statement, Rawadari said Pakistani fighter jets had targeted residential areas during the attacks.

It confirmed that in Paktia province the strikes were carried out in two waves. Residential homes were hit in the first wave, while people who had gathered to rescue the injured and assist victims were targeted in the second.

Rawadari also stressed that parties to armed conflicts are obliged to distinguish between military and civilian targets and to take all necessary precautions to prevent civilian casualties.

The human rights organisation called on the international community to take immediate steps to document the incident and hold those responsible accountable.