Afghanistan retaliates with airstrikes in Pakistan, intense clashes on border

International Desk

June 19, 2026.

Afghanistan has launched a counter-attack targeting Pakistani military installations in the border area in response to recent airstrikes by Pakistan. According to a statement from the media office of Afghanistan’s Eastern Military Corps, the counter-attack was carried out in response to recent airstrikes by Pakistani forces in Nangarhar and Paktia provinces, which led to intense clashes along the border.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban government, said in a statement that Pakistani soldiers were attacked on the border, after which fierce clashes began between the two sides. It is known that the Pakistani military carried out airstrikes along the Afghan border the previous week. At that time, Islamabad claimed that at least 70 armed fighters were killed in their attack. However, Afghanistan rejected this claim and said that ordinary civilians, including women and children, were killed in the attack.

The situation gradually became more complicated. A few days later, Pakistani forces launched night-time bombing raids on major Afghan cities, prompting Afghan forces to retaliate against Pakistani targets. Both sides claimed that more than 300 military and civilian casualties had been reported, although the numbers differed between the two countries and could not be independently verified.

The tension stems from a long-standing dispute. Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harboring extremist groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which regularly carries out suicide attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban administration, on the other hand, has strongly denied the allegations and called the Pakistani airstrikes a violation of its sovereignty.

In the wake of the series of attacks and counter-attacks on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, various countries around the world, including the United Nations, have called on both sides to exercise restraint and have also offered mediation to resolve the conflict in accordance with international law.