The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) carried out precision air strikes in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and the capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster PTV News. The operations come amid escalating hostilities along the Pak-Afghan border, with clashes reported from Chaman to Waziristan since the early hours of Wednesday.
A statement uploaded on X, quoting security sources, said: “Pakistan Army’s retaliatory action against Afghan Taliban aggression, key hideouts destroyed. Key hideouts of the Afghan Taliban were successfully targeted by the Pakistan Army.
“These precision strikes were carried out in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. As a result of these strikes, Afghan Taliban Battalion Number 4 and Border Brigade Number 6 completely destroyed. Dozens of foreign and Afghan operatives were killed.”
The statement added that the Pakistan Army possessed the “full capability to give a strong and complete response to any external aggression”.
While Pakistan has confirmed conducting precision strikes in Kabul, local Afghan media reports describe it as an oil tanker explosion. Earlier in the day, Pakistan also carried out a similar airstrike in Spin Boldak, a key area in Kandahar along the Pak-Afghan border that has remained the epicenter of cross-border clashes since Wednesday.
Read more: Deadly Clashes Continue as Pakistan Afghanistan Friendship Gate Destroyed at Chaman-Spin Boldak
According to the ISPR, Afghan Taliban “resorted to cowardly attacks [s] at four locations in [the] Spin Boldak area” in the early hours of Wednesday. “The attack was effectively repulsed by Pakistani forces,” the statement said.
د کابل ښار په مربوطاتو کې د تیلو یو تانکر چاودلی چې له امله یې یوه اور لګیدنه را منځته شوې، څوک دې تشویش نه کوي.
در مربوطات شهر کابل یک تانکر تیل انفجار کرده که به علت آن آتش سوزي به میان امده، کسی تشویش نکند. pic.twitter.com/6dBbsOA61V
— Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) October 15, 2025
Videos showing thick clouds of smoke rising from the city center in Kabul are circulating widely on social media, amid reports of Pakistan’s airstrikes and ongoing border hostilities.
The damage assessment from these airstrikes is awaited.
Several videos of Pakistan hitting the Taliban posts and TTP hideouts in Kandahar have emerged on Pakistan’s state television channel PTV.
In a subsequent update, PTV reported, citing security sources, that strikes were conducted in Kabul as well. The state media post quoted security sources as saying that the Pakistan Army targeted Afghan Taliban Battalion Headquarters No. 4, Battalion 8, and Border Brigade No. 5 in Kandahar.
#Pakistan state TV confirms air strikes in #Kandahar. PTV reports that “Pakistan Army’s retaliatory action against #Afghan #Taliban aggression as key hideouts destroyed”. PTV quoted named security sources as saying that “key hideouts of Afghan Taliban successfully targeted by… pic.twitter.com/Ep2YaGiBDl
— Tahir Khan (@taahir_khan) October 15, 2025
Earlier in the day, the Inter-Services Public Relations said security forces repulsed an attack by the Afghan Taliban along the Balochistan border, killing around 15-20 of the attackers. Wednesday marks the third day in the major skirmish between Pakistan and Afghanistan within a week, following the incident in Kurrum last night and earlier skirmishes that began on Saturday night and continued on Sunday morning at several locations.
According to ISPR, 23 Pakistani troops have been martyred and 29 injured in the incident that began with unprovoked firing from Afghan Taliban attacking posts across the border. ISPR claims that intelligence estimates and damage assessments showed that more than 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists have been neutralized, while the number of injured is much higher.
🚨🇵🇰🇦🇫 Pakistan Air Force Taleban centres in Kabul after attacks launched inside Pakistan pic.twitter.com/GaqhXm383o
— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) October 15, 2025
Meanwhile, Afghanistan calls the strikes a retaliatory measure, accusing Islamabad of violating its airspace by conducting airstrikes in its territory last week. Pakistan so far has not confirmed the airstrikes by PAF last week, but it stressed its right and resolve to defend itself
With Additional Inputs from GVS South Asia Desk