Taliban Claims Airstrikes on ISIS Positions in Pakistan; Islamabad Denies Allegations
The Taliban’s Ministry of Defense announced that on Friday, June 19, they carried out airstrikes targeting “ISIS centers” in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The ministry claimed that these centers were being used to plan and execute attacks against Afghan territory, and as a result of the operation, “key leaders” of ISIS-Khorasan were eliminated.
According to the released statement, some of the targets were located in the Golestan area of Qila Abdullah district and the Shkeraab jungle-gardening area of Chagai district in Balochistan. It was also claimed that other targets in the Qamberkhel area of Orakzai Agency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, affiliated with ISIS-Khorasan, were hit.
In response, Pakistani officials described the Taliban’s reports of attacks inside their territory as “baseless” and “false.” Pakistan’s Ministry of Information stated that a drone had entered the Khyber region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from inside Afghanistan and was identified and shot down by the country’s air defense system. Islamabad has not provided further details about possible casualties or the exact origin of the drone.
The Taliban have yet to officially respond to Pakistan’s drone claims. However, the Taliban administration warned that it would not tolerate any threats to Afghanistan’s security and stability.
This incident comes amid sharply deteriorated relations between the Taliban administration and Pakistan over the issue of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in recent months, escalating from verbal tensions to military clashes. Pakistan has repeatedly called for decisive action from Kabul against the TTP, but the Taliban have consistently asserted that no group operates from Afghan soil against other countries.
Meanwhile, reports from the United Nations and concerns expressed by some regional countries about ISIS’s presence in Afghanistan have raised questions regarding how terror threats are managed within the country—a challenge the Taliban administration places responsibility for outside its borders.
