Zürcher Nachrichten - Blasts in Kabul as Afghan govt says responding to Pakistan attacks

A spokesman for Afghanistan's defence ministry said that "air defence strikes were carried out against Pakistani aircraft in Kabul".

Months of cross-border clashes have flared again since Thursday, when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the frontier, with Pakistani forces hitting back on the border and from the skies.

The renewed violence came after Afghan residents and officials said troops from both countries had been battling along the border, with the fighting coming alongside multiple strikes including the former US air base at Bagram.

Earlier, residents in multiple areas bordering Pakistan told AFP of fighting, while the Afghan government said three people were killed overnight in drone strikes and shelling.

North of the capital Kabul, air strikes "hit Bagram air base", according to a resident who AFP is not naming for security reasons.

A second resident said "it was very strong, which shook the area. There was smoke and fire coming out north of the airport", describing the dawn raid as "very terrifying".

The provincial spokesman, Fazl ul Rahim Maskin Yar, said Pakistani jets "attempted to bomb" the base, but there were no casualties or damage.

Pakistan acknowledged bombing key cities Friday including Kabul and Kandahar, which is home to Afghanistan's supreme leader, but has not commented on Sunday's strikes.

The presence of security forces was boosted in central Kabul on Sunday evening, with increased checks on cars, an AFP journalist said.

Before dawn, AFP journalists in the capital had heard an explosion followed by successive gunfire, with Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying anti-aircraft fire was being shot at Pakistani planes.

Drones were also heard by an AFP journalist in the border province of Khost, while in Jalalabad city -- between Kabul and the border -- an AFP photographer saw a jet.

The Afghan government's deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said Pakistani fire had killed 36 civilians across multiple provinces since Thursday, which Islamabad has not commented on.

In Kunar's provincial capital Asadabad, an 18-year-old said his brother had been killed, a few months after getting married.

"When the fighting started, we told him to come with us and leave the area, but he said: 'I will stay and look after the house,'" said Sajid, who only gave one name.

"He was martyred near the mosque while trying to leave," he told AFP.

Multiple residents in Afghanistan's Khost and Nangarhar provinces told AFP the two sides were engaged in sporadic clashes on Sunday afternoon.

At Torkham border crossing -- a key gateway for Afghans returning from Pakistan -- overnight fighting was reported by the Nangarhar province information department.

The spokesman for a military unit reported heavy fighting overnight in Paktia province.

Afghan officials said Thursday's border offensive was a response to earlier air strikes that killed civilians, which Pakistan said targeted militants.

- 'Stop the war' -

On Saturday, AFP spoke to Khost residents who had fled their homes near the frontier.

"We demand from the international community and the whole world to put pressure on Pakistan to stop the war," said 46-year-old displaced resident Javed, who only gave one name.

Diplomatic efforts have failed to secure a truce, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar among those engaged in efforts to halt the fighting.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government rejects.

Many attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since 2021, the year the Taliban authorities returned to power in Kabul.

This week's escalation marked the first time that Pakistan has focused its air strikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted, a stark change from previous operations that it said targeted militants.

Pakistan's information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said 46 locations across Afghanistan had been hit by air strikes since its operation began.

Pakistan has killed 415 Afghan soldiers, the minister said.

Islamabad said earlier 12 of its soldiers had been killed.

Fitrat, Afghanistan's deputy spokesman, said more than 80 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 military posts captured.

The Afghan government earlier put the death toll among its troops at 13.

Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.

The violence of recent days is the worst since October fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides, with land borders between the neighbours largely shut since.

Several rounds of negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan last year followed a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey.

I.Widmer--NZN