Pakistan struck a fuel depot serving civilian and UN aircraft near Afghanistan’s Kandahar airport overnight, the Taliban said on Friday, in an escalation that threatens to unravel Chinese mediation efforts and draw the region deeper into turmoil.
Strikes also hit residential areas in Kabul and the eastern province of Nangarhar, killing six people, including children, and wounding more than a dozen, according to the Taliban. Residents described waking to explosions, collapsing walls and dust-filled rooms in the middle of the night.
Government spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said the depot targeted by the strikes “supplies fuel to civilian airlines as well as to United Nations aircraft”, and warned that the aggression would “not go unanswered”. Afghanistan’s defence ministry said it responded with drone strikes on a Pakistani military base in the northern city of Kohat, causing heavy damage.
Pakistani security sources said the overnight strikes targeted four militant hideouts across Kabul, Kandahar and southeastern Paktia province, with one strike hitting an oil storage facility at Kandahar airfield. Pakistan’s military and information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Murselin, a 35-year-old resident of district 21 on the outskirts of Kabul, told Reuters his sister and two of her children were wounded. “When we woke up, dust was everywhere, the windows were broken, and we could hear nothing,” he said.
Another resident, Homayoun, 45, said he was jolted awake by a blast and initially could not call out to his children. “I tried to shout, but my voice wouldn’t come out because dust and smoke had filled my throat.” He eventually heard back from all but one child before a reply finally came.
Haji Mohammad Aman, a third resident, said he was at a loss as to why his neighbourhood had been targeted. “This entire area is residential,” he said. “There is not even a single government or military facility.”
The strikes came despite a relative lull in hostilities over the past week, during which Beijing had intensified mediation efforts, including messages from President Xi Jinping urging a halt to the fighting. Ground clashes along the 2,600-kilometre border had also tapered off, though intermittent fighting continued.
The conflict erupted last month when Pakistan launched air strikes it said were aimed at militant strongholds. Afghanistan condemned the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and launched retaliatory attacks. Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring militants responsible for attacks on Pakistani soil; the Taliban deny the allegation.
The United Nations said last week that 56 civilians had been killed and 128 wounded since the fighting began, with 115,000 displaced from their homes. The Taliban put the civilian death toll above 110. Pakistan has rejected both figures, saying it targets only militants and associated infrastructure.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad and Beijing remained engaged in a “dialogue process” on Afghanistan.
