Pakistan carries out airstrikes inside Afghanistan with no letup in border fighting

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military, backed by artillery and aerial power, struck much subject installations heavy wrong Afghanistan overnight and into aboriginal Saturday, aft Pakistan said it was successful “open war” with its eastbound neighbor.

Pakistan claimed much than 300 Afghan forces had been killed since warring erupted Thursday nighttime during a wide Afghan cross-border onslaught into Pakistan. Afghanistan rejected the figures arsenic false. The casualty figures provided by either broadside could not beryllium independently confirmed.

Pakistani and Afghan forces person targeted each other’s subject positions since Thursday night, erstwhile Afghanistan launched a cross-border onslaught successful effect to Pakistani airstrikes successful Afghanistan past Sunday. Pakistan said it was targeting the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, known arsenic Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, oregon TTP. The radical is abstracted but intimately allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban. Afghanistan, however, said lone civilians were killed successful Sunday's airstrike.

After the Afghan attack, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif declared Friday: “Our patience has present tally out. Now it is unfastened warfare betwixt us.”

Continued fighting

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Saturday that much than 331 Afghan forces had been killed and implicit 500 others wounded during the ongoing subject strikes successful Afghanistan. Pakistan destroyed 102 Afghan posts, captured 22 others and destroyed 163 tanks and armored vehicles astatine 37 locations, helium said.

The Afghan government's lawman spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said the assertion of hundreds of Afghan forces killed and wounded “is untrue and we cull it.” On Friday night, helium said 19 civilians were killed, portion different 3 died and 7 were wounded Saturday greeting erstwhile Pakistan bombed a exile campy successful the confederate state of Kandahar.

On Friday, Afghan authorities spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said 13 Afghan forces were killed and 22 wounded. He besides said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Pakistan enactment its ain subject figures astatine 12 killed, 27 wounded and 1 worker missing successful action.

Pakistan’s state-run media reported the country’s aerial unit carried retired strikes targeting cardinal subject installations successful assorted areas of eastbound Afghanistan.

According to Pakistani authorities, hundreds of residents surviving adjacent the northwestern Torkham borderline crossing had fled. In caller days, Pakistan has besides transported dozens of Afghan refugees who had been waiting astatine Torkham to instrumentality location to safety.

Ejaz Ul Haq, an Afghan exile stranded adjacent the Torkham borderline with his family, said helium could not instrumentality to Afghanistan due to the fact that of the fighting. Many others were struggling to get nutrient during the fasting period of Ramadan, helium said.

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry connected Saturday said Afghanistan attacked Pakistani subject bases successful Miranshah and Spin Wam overnight, destroying subject installations and causing dense casualties successful effect to the ongoing airstrikes by Pakistan.

Afghanistan says Pakistan targeting civilian areas

In eastbound Afghanistan, the Department of Information and Culture accused Pakistan of targeting civilian areas, destroying homes and sidesplitting astatine slightest 11 people. There was nary contiguous effect from Pakistan, which has said it is targeting lone subject installations.

Mullah Taj Mohammad Naqshbandi, an Afghan commissioner connected Afghan broadside of the Torkham border, said successful a connection Saturday that the “brave forces of the Islamic Emirate destroyed the Pakistani subject regime’s commissariat, subject units, and 3 important information towers.”

On Friday, the Afghan authorities said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed during its strikes and Afghan losses were acold little than Pakistan claimed.

Mujahid, the Afghan authorities spokesman, said Friday that the country's attacks connected Pakistani subject targets were meant arsenic “a connection that our hands tin scope their throats and that we volition respond to each evil enactment of Pakistan.” He added that “Pakistan has ne'er sought to resoluteness problems done dialogue.”

Pakistan has often accused Kabul of sheltering the TTP, allegations the radical and Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities deny.

Pakistan’s service spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Friday the Afghan authorities had lone 1 choice: “either take TTP oregon Pakistan.”

Tension precocious for months

Tensions person been precocious since October, erstwhile dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants were killed successful borderline clashes. A Qatari-mediated ceasefire ended the aggravated warring that month, but respective rounds of bid talks successful Turkey successful November failed to nutrient a lasting agreement. The 2 sides person occasionally traded occurrence since then, though the ceasefire had mostly held until past week, erstwhile Pakistan struck what it described arsenic TTP hideouts.

Since then, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China and respective different countries are again attempting to defuse tensions by offering mediation.

Qatar’s curate of state, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, spoke Friday with the overseas ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan successful an effort to de-escalate tensions, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said successful a station connected X.

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Abdul Qahar Afghan reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar successful Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

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