Islamabad Delivers Formal Demarche to Kabul Over Alleged Airspace Breach

Islamabad: Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that it delivered a formal diplomatic protest to the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, citing an alleged violation of Pakistani airspace the previous week. This action comes as tensions between the two neighboring nations continue to escalate.

Relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply following a devastating militant assault on a police compound in Pakistan’s northwestern Kohat district on September 18. The attack resulted in the deaths of 23 individuals, comprising 17 police officers and six civilians.

Islamabad responded to the violence by launching airstrikes in Afghanistan the following Monday, claiming the operation eliminated 28 militants. However, the Taliban government disputed this account, asserting that the strikes killed three civilians. Subsequently, on Thursday, Islamabad conducted additional strikes at ten locations within Afghanistan, citing the intrusion of drones into its airspace from Afghan territory.

“The most recent diplomatic protest conveyed to the Afghan side was regarding an airspace violation involving drones on September 23,” stated Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan during an interview with Arab News on Monday.

This diplomatic exchange followed a statement from Kabul, which claimed its forces had killed 28 fighters and captured 32 others in the northeastern Nuristan province. The Afghan government alleged that several groups affiliated with Daesh had been deployed with Pakistani support to execute attacks inside Afghanistan. Islamabad denied any involvement and stated that Kabul had failed to provide evidence to support its assertions.

These latest accusations highlight the severe deterioration in bilateral relations driven by persistent militant violence. On Saturday, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for an attack near the Aman Mela checkpoint in the Dera Ismail Khan district, which killed at least 12 people and injured over 30, according to police officials.

Pakistan has consistently accused the Taliban government in Afghanistan of harboring the TTP and other militant groups that Islamabad claims use Afghan territory to orchestrate and launch cross-border attacks. In response, Kabul denies providing safe haven to militants, maintaining that Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal affair.

In October of last year, Pakistani and Afghan forces engaged in their deadliest border skirmishes since the Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021. Although a temporary ceasefire was established, subsequent mediation efforts failed to resolve the fundamental dispute over militant safe havens. Consequently, sporadic fighting and Pakistani strikes inside Afghanistan have persisted ever since.

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