Pakistan said Sunday that its forces launched new strikes overnight inside Afghanistan that "successfully" targeted military installations, including "terrorist hideouts," as tensions between the two neighbors escalated.
State-run Pakistan Television said the military "effectively" destroyed technical support infrastructure and an equipment storage facility in southern Kandahar province, which were being used "by Afghan Taliban and terrorists against innocent Pakistani civilians."
In another strike, Pakistani forces "successfully" targeted a tunnel in Kandhar that housed technical equipment of the Afghan Taliban and "Fitna al-Khawarij," a term Islamabad uses to designate the Pakistani Taliban.
Islamabad warned that the "Ghazab-lil-Haq" or the "Righteous Fury" operation would continue until the Afghan Taliban addressed Pakistan's core security concerns.
There was no immediate reaction from Kabul to Islamabad's claims.
The strikes came one day after Afghan forces conducted an operation Friday along the Pakistan-Afghan border, also known as the Durand Line, in the eastern zones of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.
The Pakistani military said rudimentary Afghan drones were intercepted in three locations across the country, leaving at least four people injured, including two children.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated in recent weeks, with border tensions escalating last month and resulting in casualties and property damage.
Some 99 people from both sides, including 13 soldiers and one civilian in Pakistan, and 13 soldiers and 72 civilians in Afghanistan, have been killed in the clashes.
According to UN data, 185 civilian casualties, including 56 deaths from indirect fire and aerial attacks, were reported in Afghanistan between Feb. 26 and March 5.
Pakistan, which maintains it only targets terrorists, accuses Afghanistan of providing a haven to militants who attack its territory, while Kabul denies the charge.
In a related development, Pakistan on Sunday rejected the Indian Ministry of External Affairs' remarks on Islamabad's "legitimate, targeted and precise actions against terrorist hideouts and support bases inside Afghanistan."
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, in a statement, said that India's "active support and sponsorship of terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, are well known."
"Therefore, India's frustration at the destruction of its terrorist franchise in Afghanistan, as reflected in such statements, is quite understandable," he added.
India on Saturday condemned Pakistani air strikes on Afghan territory, reiterating that Afghanistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity "should be fully respected."
