Afghanistan says it thwarted Pakistan airstrikes on Bagram airbase

Afghanistan has said it had thwarted Pakistan’s attempted airstrikes on Bagram airbase, the former US military base north of Kabul, as cross-border fighting between the two countries stretched into a fourth day.Months of clashes have flared up again since Thursday, when Afghanistan launched attacks along the frontier and Pakistani forces hit back on the border and from the skies. Pakistan has declared it is in “open war” with Afghanistan.On Sunday, the police headquarters of Parwan province, where Bagram is located, said in a statement that several Pakistani military jets entered Afghan airspace “and attempted to bomb Bagram airbase” at about 5am.The statement said Afghan forces responded with “anti-aircraft and missile defence systems” and had managed to thwart the attack. There was no immediate response to the claim from Pakistan.Diplomatic efforts have failed to secure a truce, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar among those engaged in efforts to halt the fighting.The conflict has alarmed the international community, particularly as the area is one where other militant groups, including al-Qaida and Islamic State, still have a presence and have been trying to resurface.Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that have been carrying out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government has rejected.Many attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since 2021, the year the Taliban authorities returned to power in Kabul.Pakistan acknowledged bombing key cities on Friday – including Kabul and Kandahar, which is home to Afghanistan’s supreme leader.There was an increased presence of security forces in Kabul on Sunday, with more checkpoints than usual in the city centre.The Taliban government’s deputy spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, said Pakistani fire had killed 36 civilians across multiple provinces since Thursday, which Islamabad has not commented on.Multiple residents in Afghanistan’s Khost and Nangarhar provinces told AFP that the two sides were engaged in sporadic clashes on Sunday afternoon.At Torkham border crossing – a key gateway for Afghans returning from Pakistan – overnight fighting was reported by the Nangarhar province information department.The spokesperson for a military unit reported heavy fighting overnight in Paktia province. Afghan officials said Thursday’s border offensive was a response to earlier airstrikes that killed civilians, which Pakistan said targeted militants.This week’s escalation marked the first time that Pakistan has focused its airstrikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted, a stark change from previous operations that it said targeted militants.Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said 46 locations across Afghanistan had been hit by airstrikes since its operation began. Pakistan has killed 415 Afghan soldiers, the minister said. Islamabad said earlier that 12 of its soldiers had been killed.Fitrat said more than 80 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 military posts captured. The Afghan government earlier put the death toll among its troops at 13.Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report