Reporting snapshot · 24 September 2026. Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced in the early hours of Thursday that the country had carried out precision aerial and drone strikes at 10 locations inside Afghanistan used for launching and storing drones, in retaliation for drones launched from Afghan territory a day earlier. This is a dated snapshot based on the minister's announcement as reported by Dawn, the Associated Press and Reuters, alongside The Express Tribune's account of the preceding border incidents. The Afghan Taliban authorities had not issued a response to the strikes at the time of writing, and Kabul denied Wednesday's drone attacks, so Pakistan's account could not be independently verified.
What happened
Pakistan carried out precision aerial and drone strikes at 10 locations inside Afghanistan in the early hours of Thursday, 24 September, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X, Dawn reported. Tarar said the sites had been used for launching and storing drones, and that the strikes were “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan”.
Reuters reported that Pakistan said it had carried out aerial and drone strikes on 10 sites in Afghanistan it described as being used to store drones and launch them into Pakistan, with Tarar saying the strikes were “proportionate and strictly limited” to military objectives linked to attempted attacks. The Associated Press described the strikes as a “sharp escalation in recent fighting between the neighbors that threatens mediation efforts”.
The announcement came a day after Pakistan’s armed forces said their air defence had shot down eight drones that entered the country’s airspace from Afghanistan, four near the Torkham border crossing and four in mountainous areas near Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — an episode KhabarWire covered on 23 September.
Why the strikes happened now
The strikes were a direct response to the drone incursions of 23 September. Pakistani officials said security forces had foiled a cross-border infiltration attempt by militants they described as Fitna al-Khawarij — the term Pakistani authorities use for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — near Afghan border posts in Paktia and Nangarhar provinces. After the attempt was thwarted, the officials said, Afghan Taliban forces fired mortars and other heavy weapons at Pakistani border posts, drawing Pakistani artillery in response, The Express Tribune reported.
The drone and border incidents followed a wave of militant attacks inside Pakistan. On 18 September, a suicide bombing and subsequent gunbattle at the old Police Lines in Kohat killed at least 21 people, most of them police, and on 20 September an ambush in Hangu killed six security personnel — attacks covered in KhabarWire’s Kohat reporting. On Monday, 21 September, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Paktika provinces that it said killed 28 militants, an operation KhabarWire covered alongside the ground operation it ran around Kohat, Hangu and Thal.
In his statement, Tarar said that for years Pakistan had conveyed its “grave concerns” about what it called “terrorist sanctuaries and their support networks on Afghan soil”, and that instead of dismantling these networks the Afghan Taliban regime had “chosen to escalate the situation through hostile drone operations against Pakistan”, the Associated Press reported. He warned that attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil would not be tolerated, and further provocations would draw a strong response.
The Afghan response
There was no immediate response from Kabul to the strikes, the Associated Press reported. Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had denied on Wednesday that Afghan Taliban forces carried out any attacks against Pakistan, and the Taliban authorities had not responded to the specific claims of the 23 September drone and border incidents by the time the strikes were announced.
The strikes are the latest escalation in a conflict that has run in varying intensity since late February, when Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq after Afghan forces opened fire on its border posts. Since then the neighbours have exchanged airstrikes, drone attacks, artillery and mortar fire, and cross-border raids, with both sides reporting heavy losses and disputing casualty figures. Earlier in 2026, Pakistan’s strikes on a site in Kabul that the Taliban said was a drug rehabilitation centre caused hundreds of casualties — a toll Islamabad rejected. The Afghan Taliban has also used drones in attacks reaching Pakistani cities, a capability Pakistan has sought to counter with its air defences.
What the strikes mean
The attacks are a significant intensification of Pakistani operations inside Afghanistan — the second set of publicly reported strikes within a week, following the 21 September operations. They also come at a delicate moment for diplomacy. The escalation threatens mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to broker a lasting peace between Islamabad and Kabul, the Associated Press reported, and it follows Pakistan’s campaign at the United Nations to press its case that Afghan territory is used to shelter and support militant groups.
The strikes were announced from the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has been pressing Pakistan’s demand for “concrete and verifiable” action to prevent Afghan soil being used for terrorism against its neighbours.
What is still uncertain
Pakistan’s account of the strikes could not be independently verified at the time of writing. The government did not immediately specify the locations hit inside Afghanistan beyond describing them as drone launch and storage sites, and there was no independent confirmation of what was struck or of any casualties. The Afghan Taliban authorities had not responded to the strikes when this snapshot was prepared.
The denial from Kabul of the Wednesday drone attacks means the two governments are presenting incompatible versions of the same incident, with Pakistan attributing the incursions to Afghan forces and the Taliban government denying responsibility. Whether Kabul responds to Thursday’s strikes, and whether the mediation efforts by regional powers survive this escalation, remain open questions. As with all such operations, this is a dated snapshot: a formal statement from Pakistan’s military, or a response from Kabul, may add detail or change the picture.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 24 September 2026. The account of the strikes rests on the announcement by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar as reported by Dawn, Reuters and the Associated Press; the account of the preceding drone and border incidents rests on the same outlets plus The Express Tribune.
- Dawn — Pakistan conducted strikes at 10 locations in Afghanistan in response to recent drone attacks: info minister24 September 2026 · The minister's announcement of precision aerial and drone strikes at 10 locations used for launching and storing drones, and the characterisation of the strikes as deliberate, calibrated and proportionate.
- Reuters — Pakistan says it struck sites in Afghanistan linked to drone incursions24 September 2026 · Independent wire confirmation that Pakistan struck 10 sites it described as being used to store drones and launch them into Pakistan, and that air defences neutralised Wednesday's drones before they reached their targets.
- Associated Press — Pakistan says it struck 10 sites in Afghanistan after accusing Kabul of drone attacks23-24 September 2026 · Independent wire confirmation of the strikes, the description of the escalation as threatening mediation efforts, Tarar's fuller statement, the denial from Zabihullah Mujahid, and the account of the infiltration attempt, border firing and drone downings.
- The Express Tribune — Taliban, proxies hit in the air and on the ground24 September 2026 · Context on the eight drones shot down near Torkham and Kohat, the foiled infiltration attempt in Kurram, the border firing, and the ISPR operations in Balochistan.
