The Taliban’s Defense Ministry said on Friday it had carried out airstrikes against what it described as ISIS targets in neighboring Pakistan, claiming to have struck several sites in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a statement, the ministry said the strikes targeted alleged ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, facilities in the Gulistan area of Qila Abdullah district and the Shakarab region of Chagai district in Balochistan province.
The ministry claimed that the sites were being used to plan attacks inside Afghanistan.
It also said additional targets were struck in the Qambar Khel area of Orakzai district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which it described as belonging to ISIS-K.
The Taliban claimed that “key leaders” of the militant group were killed in the operation but provided no evidence to support the assertion.
Pakistan had not publicly commented on the reported strikes as of publication.
The announcement comes amid longstanding disagreements between the Taliban and regional governments over the presence and activities of ISIS-K, the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
The United Nations and several countries in the region have repeatedly expressed concern about ISIS-K’s presence in Afghanistan and its ability to carry out attacks both inside the country and abroad.
In recent reports, UN monitoring teams have said the group continues to maintain a presence in Afghanistan despite Taliban counterterrorism operations.
The Taliban, however, have consistently downplayed the threat posed by ISIS-K inside Afghanistan and have argued that many of the group’s operational bases are located across the border in Pakistan.
The reported strikes, if confirmed, would mark a rare instance of the Taliban publicly claiming military action against targets inside Pakistan, a move that could further strain already tense relations between the two sides.
Relations between Taliban and Islamabad have deteriorated in recent years over border disputes, cross-border militancy and mutual accusations of harboring armed groups. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of allowing anti-Pakistan militants to operate from Afghanistan’s territory, an allegation Taliban deny.
