 "Residents dig graves for the victims killed in an air strike by Pakistan, in Jige Mughalgai in Khost province on November 25, 2025. (AFP)")
The Taliban in Afghanistan vowed on Tuesday to respond “appropriately at the right time” after Pakistani air strikes killed 10 people in the eastern provinces.
“The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns this violation and crime and reiterates that defending its airspace, territory, and people is its legitimate right, and it will respond appropriately at the right time,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on X.
Pakistan has carried out airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan, targeting what its government says are hideouts of the Tehrik‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said reports citing Pakistani officials and Taliban sources.
The Taliban in Kabul strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a “reckless action” and a clear breach of Afghan sovereignty.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes occurred “at around 3 am” and struck “civilian homes” in the Khost and Paktika provinces, killing women, children, and other non-combatants. He warned that such attacks could have “very bad consequences which will be out of Pakistan’s control.”
In response, the Pakistani Foreign Office defended the operation as “intelligence‑based anti‑terrorist operations … inside Afghanistan,” asserting that it was targeting militants of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group and other TTP elements.
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View AllThe violent exchange has escalated tensions along the already volatile Pakistan-Afghanistan border, raising fresh concerns about regional stability and cross-border militancy.
The bilateral ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan have worsened in recent times, with Islamabad blaming Taliban for attacks carried out inside its territory by TTP or Pakistani Taliban. While Pakistan accused the Taliban of allowing TTP operatives to launch attacks from Afghan territory, Kabul has denied the accusation.
Their relations have deteriorated after Taliban blamed Pakistan for the October 9 drone strikes on the Afghan capital and threatened retaliation. Military clashes followed, dozens of soldiers, civilians and militants before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on October 19.
They launched bilateral talks for a peace deal in Istanbul, Turkey. But two subsequent rounds of talks failed to resolve the dispute, with Pakistan alleging that the Taliban had refused to provide a written guarantee that TTP fighters would not operate from Afghan soil and insisting on the right to carry out strikes in Afghanistan.