Pakistan rejects Afghanistan's claim of strikes inside its territory

Pakistan on Friday rejected a claim by Afghan authorities that Afghan forces carried out strikes against militant hideouts in two provinces of Pakistan, calling the assertion false and misleading, according to the country’s Information Ministry, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

In a statement, the ministry said Afghan authorities had claimed to have used drones to strike alleged terrorist camps in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces.

“The claims are false as usual,” the ministry said, adding that camps belonging to the Islamic State of Khorasan Province and more than two dozen other militant organisations are located and operate from areas under the control of Afghan authorities.

The ministry further stated that a rudimentary drone launched from Afghanistan had intruded into Pakistan’s airspace near Shinko in the northwestern Khyber district and was immediately identified and neutralised by the Pakistan Air Force’s air defence system.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence said Afghan forces had carried out overnight air strikes against several hideouts used by Islamic State militants in neighbouring Pakistan.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev