1,200 border violations, 710 airspace breaches by Pakistan in 4 years: Afghan sources

Pakistani military has violated Afghanistan's border over 1,200 times and breached its airspace on 710 occasions in the last four years, Afghan sources said on Saturday as a deadly border conflict between the two countries further strained their ties.

The ongoing military clashes erupted last week following a Pakistani airstrike on Kabul. The tensions escalated significantly after at least three Afghan cricketers were killed reportedly in a Pakistani airstrike in Paktika province.

After many years of patience and restraint, Afghanistan exercised its right to self-defence as enshrined in international law by conducting limited retaliatory military operations on October 11 against Pakistani forces positions along the Durand line, the sources said.

Sharing details of Pakistani actions in the last four years, they said Pakistani border forces carried out more than 1,200 border violations and fired artillery and mortars.

From the beginning of 2024 until now, 102 civilians and Afghan border guards have been killed and 139 others wounded in view of the attacks, the sources said.

In the past four years, Pakistan military have carried out more than 712 air violations that included 16 episodes of bombings with jets and drones in the provinces of Nuristan, Kunar, Nangarhar, Khost, Paktia, and Paktika that left 114 Pakistani tribal refugees, Afghan civilians and Afghan border guards dead, the sources said.

"Dozens of homes and shops were destroyed, and considerable financial losses were inflicted on civilians," said one of the sources.

In December 2024, when a delegation led by Pakistan's special envoy for Afghanistan, Sadiq Khan, came to Kabul, Islamabad's military aircraft bombed several areas in Paktia and Paktika and caused civilian casualties, the sources claimed.

At that time limited reciprocal military operations took place in retaliation and they paid no heed to their own delegation and, in addition to violating Afghanistan's airspace, they added.

The sources said Pakistani air force carried out airstrikes in three Afghan provinces of Nuristan, Nangarhar, and Khost in last August.

"There were no casualties in Nuristan and Nangarhar, and contrary to their claims there were no members of any anti Pakistan group present there. But in Khost province they killed three children from an Afghan family (civilians) and wounded four women," said the source cited above.

In response to this act of aggression by the Pakistanis, we showed no military reaction and we only lodged protests through diplomatic channels, yet Pakistan continued its violations, the sources said.

Most recently, on the night before Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was to meet his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on October 9, Pakistan violated the airspace of the capital Kabul with its combat jets and produced loud aerial explosion sounds over Kabul skies, the sources said.

They said Afghanistan's recent retaliations were mostly confined to the areas from which Afghanistan's territory was repeatedly subjected to artillery and mortar fire, drone incursions, and other violations.

We do not seek to escalate the situation, but if the Pakistanis insist on violating Afghan air and ground space, or carry out bombings, we will be compelled to give a firm and befitting response, because defending our land and people is our inherent right and responsibility, the Afghan sources said.