UPDATE - Pakistan launches airstrikes on Afghan capital, 2 provinces, says Kabul

ADDS DETAILS FROM LOCAL SOURCES; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Gizem Nisa Demir

ISTANBUL (AA) - Pakistan’s military carried out airstrikes early Friday in several parts of Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul as well as Kandahar and Paktia provinces, according to an Afghan government spokesman.

In a statement, Afghan authorities said Pakistani forces conducted aerial attacks targeting “certain areas” across Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia provinces.

The strikes were confirmed by a government spokesman, who added that no casualties had been reported.

“The Pakistani military carried out airstrikes in certain areas of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia. Fortunately, there have been no reported casualties,” he said.

Multiple large-scale explosions were reported in Kabul, according to local sources.

Information obtained by an Anadolu correspondent from sources in the capital indicated that several explosions occurred in the city center at around 02.30 am local time (2200GMT Thursday).

Anadolu could not independently confirm the claims about casualties made by the two sides.

According to Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV News, citing security sources, the Pakistani army destroyed several military facilities in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia provinces.

Security sources also said that an ammunition depot and a logistics base were destroyed during airstrikes in Kandahar.

Meanwhile, according to a report by Tolo News, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said retaliatory operations by Afghan forces targeting Pakistani positions along the Durand Line had ended at midnight local time.

-Pakistan confirms continued military action

Confirming continued military action, Mosharraf Zaidi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's spokesperson for foreign media, said Pakistani counterstrikes against targets in Afghanistan were ongoing as of early Friday.

He said 133 Afghan soldiers had been killed and more than 200 wounded, with additional casualties expected following the strikes on military targets in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar.

Zaidi added that 27 Afghan military posts had been destroyed and nine captured, while multiple military facilities, including two corps headquarters, three brigade headquarters, ammunition depots, a logistics base and battalion and sector headquarters, as well as more than 80 tanks, artillery systems and armored vehicles were destroyed.

He said Pakistan’s “immediate and effective response to aggression continues.”

-Escalating cross-border tensions

Earlier, Kabul said eight Afghan soldiers were killed and it also claimed that “55 Pakistani soldiers were killed” during the border clashes.

The strikes came amid escalating cross-border tensions between Kabul and Islamabad.

Earlier Thursday, at least eight Afghan soldiers and two Pakistani soldiers were killed during a four-hour border clash described by Afghan officials as a “retaliatory operation.”

The escalation follows Pakistani airstrikes last week that Islamabad said killed 70 “terrorists,” while Afghan officials and the UN reported civilian deaths, claims Pakistan denies.

Relations have deteriorated in recent months as Pakistan accuses militants of operating from Afghan territory, an allegation Kabul rejects, even as diplomatic contacts continue amid efforts to ease tensions.