Powerful explosions and sustained gunfire shook parts of Kabul before dawn on Tuesday, residents said, as fighting between Pakistan and the Taliban entered its sixth day and the capital came under apparent attack again.
Sources in Kabul told Amu TV that Pakistani aircraft had been patrolling the city’s skies when several strong explosions were heard in different areas of the capital around 4:45 a.m. Light and heavy gunfire continued until about 6 a.m., the sources said.
The precise locations of the blasts and the intended targets of the aircraft were not immediately clear. There was no independent confirmation of casualties.
The Taliban had not publicly commented on Tuesday’s explosions as of midday. In previous statements, however, the Taliban’s Defense Ministry said such gunfire in Kabul was part of “air defense” measures against Pakistani warplanes.
Pakistan began carrying out airstrikes in Kabul on Thursday night, Feb. 26, after Taliban forces launched attacks along the eastern border. Since then, residents say, the capital has been struck repeatedly as cross-border clashes intensified.
The latest explosions came amid widening hostilities that have spread beyond the frontier provinces into major urban centers. Pakistani aircraft have reportedly targeted Taliban military installations in several provinces, while Taliban officials say their forces have struck military sites inside Pakistan.
For many Kabul residents, the early-morning blasts were another sleepless episode in nearly a week of escalating violence.
