Taliban Summons Pakistan’s Top Diplomat in Kabul Over Airstrikes

The Taliban administration has summoned the charge d’affaires of the Pakistani embassy in Kabul over overnight airstrikes on several Afghan provinces and what it said was a violation of the country’s airspace.

The Taliban-run Foreign Ministry said that during the meeting, it conveyed the administration’s strong and firm protest to the Pakistani diplomat over the airstrikes on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces, and handed over a note of protest.

According to the ministry, the strikes killed and wounded a number of civilians. The Taliban administration described the incident as a clear violation of Afghanistan’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and said the strikes were contrary to Islamic principles, international norms, human values and good neighbourliness.

The Taliban administration also rejected claims that Afghan soil had been used as a source of recent security incidents in Pakistan. It said citing such allegations to justify military action was an attempt to distort the facts and conceal Pakistan’s domestic failures.

The Taliban-run Foreign Ministry added that the strikes came as tensions between the two countries have repeatedly risen in recent months over security issues and mutual accusations. Pakistan has previously carried out similar cross-border attacks on Afghan border areas.