Afghanistan said Wednesday that Pakistan launched new airstrikes targeting the country, killing at least 13 people and wounding 14 others, in a further sign of rising tensions between the two neighbors after months of fighting that has killed hundreds.
Beijing is directly mediating a ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan, neighboring countries that have been engaged in intense fighting since February, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said.
Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of conducting an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul, which Taliban officials say killed at least 400 people.
President Asif Ali Zardari said on Saturday the Afghan Taliban had "crossed a red line" by launching what the military called "rudimentary drones" against civilian targets in Pakistan.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday he has designated Afghanistan as a "State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention," demanding Taliban authorities release two Americans and commit to ending its "hostage diplomacy."
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has called on India to return to the “negotiating table,” while asserting that New Delhi and Kabul have only seen a “fraction” of Islamabad’s military capabilities.
Pakistan’s military, backed by artillery and air power, struck more Afghan military installations deep inside Afghanistan overnight and into early Saturday, killing over 300 Afghan forces in dayslong border clashes, a government spokesman and officials said.
Pakistan launched air strikes on cities in neighbouring Afghanistan on Friday, in a major escalation after months of attacks and cross-border strikes along their porous frontier.
Pakistan information minister on Friday confirmed that three cities, all in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were targeted by Taliban drone attacks, claiming that no one was harmed.
