The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Pakistan bombed the fuel depot of the private airline Kam Air near Kandahar International Airport, the Taliban said Friday, marking a significant escalation in the worst conflict in years between Pakistan and Afghanistan, despite mediation efforts by China.
According to the Taliban, the fuel depot targeted in the
strike supplies fuel to civilian aircraft as well as planes operated by the United
Nations.
“The company supplies fuel to civilian airlines as well as
to United Nations aircraft,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.
He also claimed that Pakistani forces carried out bombings
in other locations, including Kabul, where women and children were reportedly
among those killed after civilian homes were hit. Mujahid warned that the
attacks would “not go unanswered.”
Pakistani security sources, however, said the military
conducted overnight strikes against four militant hideouts in Kabul, Kandahar
and Paktia Province, including one targeting an oil storage facility at the
Kandahar airfield.
The Taliban Defense Ministry said Afghan forces responded
with drone strikes on a Pakistani military base in Kohat, causing heavy damage.
Pakistan’s military and its information ministry did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
The latest escalation follows weeks of rising tensions that
began last month when Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, which
Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds. The Taliban condemned the attacks
as a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and launched retaliatory strikes.
Militancy has long been a major point of dispute between
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan accuses Kabul of providing safe haven to
militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation the Taliban
deny, saying militancy is Pakistan’s internal problem.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that mediation efforts
by China had helped ease the fighting. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Tahir Andrabi also said Islamabad and Beijing were engaged in a “dialogue
process” regarding Afghanistan.
