The conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan is escalating. The Taliban regime in Kabul attacked a military center in Islamabad with drones for the first time – VIDEO
Afghanistan's Taliban regime said on Saturday it had struck a military base in Islamabad with drones, marking the first time drones have reached the Pakistani capital amid an escalating conflict that has been escalating for weeks.
“As part of the continuation of the “Radd-al-Zulm” (“Rejection of Oppression”) reprisal operations, on Friday afternoon the Air Force of the Islamic Emirate attacked an important military center of the Pakistani military regime known as “Hamza”, in the Faizabad area of (the Pakistani capital) Islamabad,” the Taliban regime informed in a press release, according to the EFE and Agerpres agencies.
The attack comes after Pakistan launched new bombings on several points in Afghanistan on Thursday morning, including the capital and areas in the south of the country, in an offensive that the UN says has left at least four dead and 14 wounded.
According to the de facto Afghan government, the drones struck the headquarters and other facilities at a military complex in Islamabad, located just a few kilometers from Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani army is headquartered, and caused “serious human and financial losses”.
Pakistan's military intelligence department later claimed the drones were intercepted before reaching their targets, although debris from the drones caused at least four injuries, including two children.
According to Pakistan, minors were injured in the Balochistan city of Quetta, while two other civilians were injured in Kohat and Rawalpindi after fragments of the drones fell.
Islamabad accused the Taliban of trying to “instill fear in the population” by launching rudimentary drones and posing as victims while “actively targeting civilians through their terrorist proxies and their drones”.
Both Kabul and Islamabad have repeatedly reiterated that they are prepared for a prolonged confrontation on the border and have warned that they will retaliate against any attack on their sovereignty.
“Pakistan's Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq will continue until the Afghan Taliban address Pakistan's core concern of terrorism originating on Afghan soil (…). We will not retreat in the face of such challenges,” the Pakistani note added.
The current escalation between the two countries intensified on February 22 when Pakistan launched attacks against suspected insurgent bases on Afghan soil, accusing Kabul of allowing armed groups operating against the Pakistani state across the border, a charge the Taliban denies.
According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), cross-border clashes have killed at least 75 civilians and injured 193 in Afghanistan since the end of February, mostly women and children.
