Pakistan Strikes 10 Sites in Kandahar, Paktia and Khost — Second Major Airstrike Package in Four Days; Taliban Says 4 Civilians Killed

Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes on 10 locations in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the early hours of September 24, 2026 — its second major cross-border strike package in four days after three months of relative calm. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan struck 'identified military objectives' — drone launch and storage sites and militant hideouts and support infrastructure belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), its affiliates, and Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) — in retaliation for the eight drones Pakistan intercepted near Kohat and Torkham on September 23. Afghan officials reported strikes in Khost province's Gurbaz, Ismail Khel and Mandozai districts and in Kandahar city's 9th district, with the strikes also reaching Paktia province. Afghan Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes killed four civilians and warned Kabul would deliver an 'appropriate response,' calling them 'shameless acts of aggression and attacks by the Pakistani military regime.' Tarar said the strikes were 'deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate.' The escalation threatens mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to broker a lasting peace between Kabul and Islamabad.