Pakistani strikes on Kabul leave four dead, dozens injured

Kabul, March 14:  Pakistani airstrikes claimed four lives and injured 25 others in the Afghan capital Kabul early Friday, deputy spokesman of the Afghan government Hamdullah Fitrat said on Saturday.

According to the official, besides Kabul, Pakistan also conducted air raids on Kandahar, Paktika, Khost and Nangarhar provinces on Thursday night and Friday. In Kandahar, an oil depot was targeted, reports Xinhua news agency.

In the past weeks, scores of people from both sides have been killed or injured in the conflict between Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan, according to officials from the two countries.

Afghanistan's Ministry of National Defence said on Friday that it has conducted strikes on Pakistani military centres and installations in Kohat district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in retaliation for the airstrikes launched by Islamabad on Thursday night, which resulted in several civilian casualties on the Afghan side.

According to the statement released by Kabul, the military fort in Kohat and the war command centre along the Durand Line were targeted during the strike.

In a statement shared on X, Afghanistan's Ministry of National Defence stated, "In response to last night's incursions by the Pakistani military regime, Afghan air forces conducted strikes this morning on strategic military centres and installations of the Pakistani army in the Kohat area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa."

In another post on X, the ministry wrote, "During these strikes, the Kohat military fort was struck, while the war command centre along the Durand Line, located approximately two kilometres from the fort, along with the office of the fort's commander, was also precisely targeted."

"As a result of these strikes, the fort's military installations, the command centre, depots, and soldiers' residential quarters were destroyed, resulting in significant human and material losses," it added.

--IANS