Pakistan Airstrikes Rock Kabul Amid Rising Tensions And Taliban Minister’s India Visit

Afghanistan was rocked by explosions on Thursday night, with reports suggesting that Pakistani jets carried out airstrikes targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) camps in Kabul as tensions flared between the two countries. The timing of the attack coincided with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s first official visit to India, a trip that appears to have unsettled Pakistan as New Delhi steps up its engagement with Kabul.

Local reports said the aerial assault near Shahid Abdul Haq Square aimed to eliminate TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud, who took over the militant group in 2018. However, an audio message from Mehsud later confirmed he was safe, rejecting claims of his death or disappearance after several Pakistani outlets reported he had been killed.

Mehsud, who viewed Pakistan’s post-9/11 alliance with the United States as a betrayal, has long been a major challenge for Islamabad. The TTP has carried out numerous attacks on Pakistani military targets in recent years, the latest occurring on 8 October, when a deadly ambush near the Afghan border left 11 Pakistani soldiers, including two senior officers, dead.

Former US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad described Pakistan’s airstrikes as a “huge escalation” carrying dangerous risks, urging both sides to return to negotiations. “In recent days, Taliban operatives have been active in Pakistan, attacking ISIS and killing a number of its leaders. The Pakistanis have been recklessly backing ISIS operatives against Afghanistan and their own Baloch insurgency. The Afghans, in turn, have been permissive towards the TTP,” Khalilzad said on X (formerly Twitter).

Attack Follows Pakistani Warning

The strikes came just 24 hours after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif issued a stern warning to the Afghan Taliban. Speaking in the National Assembly, Asif declared that Pakistan’s patience had “run out” over the continued use of Afghan territory by militants attacking Pakistan. “Enough is enough,” he said.

On Friday, Asif acknowledged that Pakistan, which has been long accused of supporting militant groups, was now struggling against the very threat posed by the Pakistan Taliban.

“Despite years of negotiations with the Afghan government, the bloodshed in Pakistan has not stopped. Daily funerals of military personnel are being held. We are paying the price of 60 years of hospitality to six million Afghan refugees with our blood,” he posted on X.

The TTP, which seeks to overthrow the Pakistani government and impose a strict Islamic system, claimed responsibility for the attack in the Orakzai district. “During the operation, based on credible intelligence... after intense exchanges of fire, all thirty Indian-sponsored Khwarij involved in the terrorist incident have been sent to hell,” the military said in a statement.

Pakistan, whose ties with India have deteriorated since their worst conflict in decades last May, accuses New Delhi of funding militants operating inside its borders, a charge India dismisses as “baseless”. There has been no official statement from the foreign ministry spokesperson.

Islamabad also claims militants use Afghan territory to plan and train for attacks against Pakistan, an accusation Kabul denies. Relations between the two neighbours have remained tense since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces.