Pakistan launched a series of airstrikes on Afghan soil on Saturday, targeting areas of Kabul and the Barmal district in Paktika province, resulting in deaths and injuries, the Afghan National Defense Ministry reported.

The Pakistani army justified the action as an appropriate response to an aggression, considered unprovoked, launched, according to explanations, by the Afghan Talibans and the Fitna al-Khawarij group along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The Pakistani military forces noted that the attack resulted in more than 200 deaths and the destruction or occupation of about twenty Afghan checkpoints.

In retaliation, Afghanistan launched an operation against Pakistani security posts along the Durand Line, its National Defense Ministry confirmed and warned of a firm and decisive response to any future violation of Afghan sovereignty.

The operation specifically targeted centers used by the neighboring country’s forces that had participated in what Kabul called the last acts of aggression against Afghan territory.

For its part, the Afghan Government denounced these actions as part of a campaign by certain specific circles in Afghanistan’s neighborhoods dissatisfied with what had ensured improvements in security conditions and the country’s political, economic, and social progress.

jdt/iff/ro/lrd