Kabul, March 13 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 to the airstrikes launched by Islamabad on Thursday night which resulted in several civilian casualities on the Afghan side.
According to the statement released by Kabul, military fort in Kohat and the war command centre along the Durand Line were targetted 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 centers 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 center along the Durand Line located approximately two kilometres from the fort along with the office of the fort’s commander, was also precisely targetted."
"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.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Friday that Pakistan carried out fresh military strikes across multiple Afghan provinces, including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, and Paktika, resulting in civilian casualties, including women and children.
“Continuing the pattern of previous aggressions and crimes, the Pakistani military regime has once again bombed Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Paktika, and some other areas. In some places, it targeted civilians' homes, leading to the death of women and children, and in other places, it targeted empty deserts and uninhabited areas,” Mujahid posted on X.
Condemning the attacks by Pakistani forces, he further said, “This unjust assault in the last 10 days of the blessed month of Ramadan and on the threshold of Eid al-Fitr clearly indicates that they adhere to no human principles or moral values whatsoever. The Islamic Emirate condemns this crime and this flagrant assault in the strongest terms, and God willing, this injustice will not go unanswered.”
Mujahid accused the Pakistani military aircraft of setting ablaze the fuel storage of Kam Air, a private airline company, near Kandahar International Airport in Afghanistan.
“This company supplies fuel to civilian airlines and United Nations aircraft. This comes at a time when they had previously also burnt fuel depots belonging to private traders named Haji Khan Zada,” the Taliban spokesperson posted on X.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed on Friday that at least four people were killed and 14 others injured in airstrikes in Pul-e-Charkhi area in Afghanistan's Kabul on Thursday night. It also called for an immediate cessation in hostilities to stop further loss of civilian life.
"UNAMA documented at least four civilian deaths and 14 injured, including women and children, as a result of airstrikes in Pul-e-Charkhi area in Kabul Afghanistan last night. We continue to call for an immediate cessation in hostilities to prevent further loss of civilian life," UNAMA posted on X.
"Civilians, mostly women and children, continue to pay the price for the latest escalation in cross-border violence. Since 26 February, UNAMA has recorded at least 75 civilians killed and 193 injured in Afghanistan as a result of ongoing armed clashes," it added.
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