A Pakistani fighter jet reportedly crashed in Jalalabad on Saturday, and the pilot was taken into custody by Afghan forces. The incident occurred just hours after loud explosions were heard near the city’s airport, news agency AFP reported. Witnesses said the blasts followed the sound of a jet flying overhead, suggesting the crash may be linked to the escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan along the border.
“A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive,” police spokesman Tayeb Hammad told AFP.
Islamabad’s Foreign Ministry has, however, denied these claims from the Afghan military and police. “That’s a false claim. Totally untrue,” ministry spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi told AFP.
The incident comes a day after the Taliban government indicated it was open to dialogue. The overture was made hours after Pakistan conducted strikes in Kabul, Kandahar, and other cities. Both sides described the situation as a serious escalation in hostilities.
Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions: Drone strikes and cross-border operations
At the same time, Taliban forces in Kabul launched drone strikes under Operation ‘Rad al-Zulm’, targeting Pakistani military camps in Miranshah and Spinwam, TOLOnews reported quoting security sources. Pakistan also continued ground and air operations overnight. Security officials told The Dawn that the Pakistan Air Force targeted Taliban positions in Nangarhar, while troops destroyed and captured several border posts.
The latest spike in violence began after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan last weekend. In response, Afghan forces launched drone attacks late Thursday on Pakistani military positions and installations in the northwest along the shared border.
The Taliban also attacked several border check posts, reportedly in retaliation for Sunday’s air raids in Afghanistan’s border regions. This fresh round of violence comes after days of back-and-forth attacks along the 2,600-km border, with both sides blaming each other for starting the latest clashes.
Pakistan launched air and missile strikes early Friday under what it called ‘Operation Ghazab lil Haq’, targeting locations in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, according to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.
Security sources in Pakistan said the operation included air-to-ground missile strikes on Taliban military offices and posts, Reuters reported.
Pakistan’s state minister Talal Chaudhry said on Wednesday that the country would continue its current policy towards Afghanistan unless the Taliban change what he described as their “guerrilla mindset.”
“Their [Taliban leadership’s] attitude towards us is quite different from what it is with the rest of the world,” Chaudhry said during a programme on Geo News.
He added, “And this war will be won, and all this will end. If it is not resolved the straight way, then it will be completely ended by a hardline approach.”
Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions: Security tightened in Karachi
Meanwhile, a photo from Karachi showed police officers checking passengers’ belongings on a road leading to the airport, as security was tightened after exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces, according to Reuters.
On Sunday, Pakistan said nearly 300 Afghan Taliban personnel and members of allied groups had been killed as operations continued.
According to PTI, information minister Attaullah Tarar said in a late-night update that security forces had killed 297 fighters from what he called the Afghan Taliban regime, and more than 450 Afghan operatives were injured.
Sharing details of Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, Tarar said Pakistan had destroyed 89 Taliban posts and captured 18 others. He also claimed that about 135 tanks and armoured vehicles were destroyed during the operation.
The minister added that around 29 locations across Afghanistan were effectively targeted by the air force.