Pakistani fighter jets flew at low altitude over parts of Khost Province late Tuesday, unsettling residents who feared the aircraft might carry out strikes, local sources said on Wednesday.
Witnesses said at least four jets crossed from Pakistan around 11:30 p.m. and circled several districts repeatedly. The noise, they said, was loud enough to wake people from their sleep, prompting some to leave their homes in fear of bombings.
Taliban authorities in Kabul have not commented on the reports.
Residents said this was not the first time Pakistani aircraft had entered Afghan airspace. Jets have previously been seen flying over Khost and neighboring provinces, and earlier raids in Khost, Paktia and Paktika killed and wounded dozens of civilians, including women and children, according to local accounts.
Cross-border tensions have escalated in recent years, with Pakistan carrying out airstrikes on what it says are militant hideouts inside Afghanistan. Taliban have denounced those strikes as violations of Afghan sovereignty.
On 16 April 2022, the Pakistani military conducted predawn airstrikes on multiple targets in Khost and Kunar provinces. Taliban said the attacks killed at least 47 civilians and injured 23 others. Another wave of airstrikes by Pakistan happened in December 2024 in Barmal district, Paktika province, in which at least 46 people were killed. The victims included Waziristani refugees, along with Afghan civilians, including children, according to the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense.
