Taliban claim strike on Pakistani special forces site after airstrikes in Kandahar

The Taliban defense ministry said its forces carried out a strike on a Pakistani special forces facility in Pakistan’s South Waziristan district after Pakistani airstrikes targeted sites in southern Afghanistan.

The ministry said the “military camp” is belonged to Pakistani special forces in Wana, the center of South Waziristan.

The ministry said buildings used by Pakistani commando forces and other “important facilities” were hit and that much of the site was destroyed.

It also claimed Pakistani soldiers suffered casualties.

This comes as Pakistani forces carried out overnight airstrikes in Kandahar, the Taliban’s traditional stronghold and the power base of their supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Sources in Kandahar told Amu TV that one of the strikes hit a special forces training unit linked to Akhundzada in the city’s District 9. The facility, located near a compound associated with Taliban founder Mullah Omar, was used to train fighters loyal to the Taliban leader, the sources said.

Casualties from the strike were not immediately clear.

The sources also said Pakistani aircraft bombed an ammunition storage tunnel inside a mountain and a Taliban border command center in Kandahar province. Pakistani fighter jets were also reported patrolling the border districts of Spin Boldak and Shorabak, they added.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, however, disputed those accounts. He said Pakistani forces struck only a section of a drug rehabilitation hospital and an empty shipping container that had previously been used as a Taliban checkpoint, adding that no one was injured.

Clashes have also been reported along Afghanistan’s eastern border. Taliban local officials said fighting occurred in parts of Khost and Paktika provinces.

In Kunar province, Taliban said dozens of Pakistani artillery shells struck the area over the past 24 hours, damaging a school. Residents expressed concern that civilians are increasingly vulnerable as tensions escalate.

Pakistani airstrikes and artillery attacks have targeted Kandahar, Kabul and parts of eastern Afghanistan in recent weeks, according to Taliban officials, while the Taliban say they have carried out retaliatory attacks.

A spokesperson for Pakistan’s prime minister said the operations would continue until militant activity originating from Afghanistan’s territory stops.

Taliban-Pakistan clashes which started with “retaliatory attacks” by Taliban in border areas on Feb. 26 entered 18th day on Sunday.

UN has said that the clashes so far have left at least 73 civilians dead and 193 others wounded. Moreover, more than 100,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to the clashes, according to UN figures.