By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said Thursday it carried out precision aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations inside Afghanistan, targeting what it described as militant hideouts and drone-launching and storage facilities linked to attacks against Pakistan.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced the strikes in a post on X, saying the operation, identified by Pakistan as “Ghazab lil Haq,” followed a drone incursion from Afghan territory on Sept. 23.

“Through precise aerial and drone strikes ... terrorist hideouts and support infrastructure including drone launching and storage sites across 10 locations” were destroyed, Tarar said. He said the targets were linked to attacks against civilians inside Pakistan and to the recent attempted drone intrusion.

Pakistan said its air-defense systems detected, tracked and destroyed the drones before they could reach their intended targets. Security officials had earlier said eight drones entered Pakistani airspace from Afghanistan and were shot down.

Tarar said Pakistan regarded the drone incursion as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity and described the strikes as an exercise of its right to self-defense.

Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of allowing militant groups to operate from Afghan territory and has repeatedly demanded what it calls concrete and verifiable action against those groups. Kabul has rejected accusations that Afghan territory is being used to launch attacks against Pakistan.

Afghan sources reported that one of the overnight strikes hit an area in Kandahar, the traditional power base of the Taliban leadership.

A Kandahar resident told The South Asia Times that a fighter jet hit and destroyed a Taliban military camp in the city. Later, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also confirmed that Pakistan had carried out an airstrike in Kandahar but said there were no casualties.

Reports also indicated that other targets were located in eastern Afghanistan, including areas of Paktia and Khost, although Pakistan's announcement did not publicly identify all 10 locations.

A local resident in Khost told The South Asia Times that Gulano military Camp in Gurbuz district has targeted by Pakistani jets but there is no information on how many Taliban fighters were killed in the strikes.

The latest strikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan following a series of militant attacks in Pakistan and accusations over militant sanctuaries across the border.

Pakistan has blamed groups including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists and allied militants for attacks inside the country and says their leadership and infrastructure are located in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban government denies allowing its territory to be used against Pakistan.

On Sept. 21, Pakistan said it had conducted earlier airstrikes against three militant targets in Afghanistan and claimed that 28 militants were killed.

The earlier strikes followed a deadly attack in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which Islamabad said was carried out by terrorists linked to TTP based in Afghanistan. The continuing exchanges have raised concerns about a broader confrontation between the two neighboring countries.

Pakistan has also previously reported drones entering its airspace from Afghanistan. Islamabad says the incidents demonstrate an expanding threat from Afghan territory.

Tarar said Pakistan would not accept attacks originating from Afghan territory, whether carried out by militant groups or by Afghan Taliban forces themselves.

He called on the Taliban regime to immediately halt what Islamabad described as hostile activities and to take “effective, concrete, verifiable and sustained action” against militant organizations operating from Afghan soil.

At the same time, Tarar said Pakistan did not seek escalation and remained committed to regional peace, dialogue and constructive engagement.