KABUL, Afghanistan – October 17, 2025 – Afghanistan’s Taliban government has publicly accused Pakistan of carrying out two drone strikes in the capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, just hours before the neighbors announced a temporary ceasefire following days of deadly cross-border conflict.
Taliban officials on Thursday said the drone attacks, which reportedly struck a civilian house and a market, were executed by Pakistani forces. While initial Taliban statements had suggested an oil tanker explosion, a spokesperson for the Kabul police chief later confirmed the strikes hit on Wednesday afternoon. Hospital sources in the city reported at least five people killed and dozens injured, with many suffering from shrapnel wounds and burns.
The accusation escalates already severe tensions between the two countries, whose shared, disputed border has been the site of fierce fighting since October 10. The violence, which saw both sides retaliating against alleged armed provocations from the other, resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries across both nations.
Ceasefire and Denials
The claims from Kabul come as a 48-hour truce, agreed upon Wednesday evening after appeals from major regional powers, appears to be holding, offering a much-needed break from the hostilities. However, the Taliban’s accusation threatens to undermine the fragile agreement, which the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has welcomed while urging for a “lasting end to hostilities.”
There has been no immediate official response from Islamabad to the latest claims. However, Pakistani officials, speaking anonymously, have previously indicated that their forces targeted militant hideouts inside Afghanistan earlier this week. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring militants, particularly leaders and fighters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a charge the Afghan Taliban government vehemently denies.
A Volatile Situation
The cross-border fighting has been the deadliest since the Taliban seized power in 2021. UNAMA reported on Thursday that 37 civilians had been killed and 425 wounded in Afghanistan this week alone as a result of the clashes in various provinces along the border.
The Kabul drone strikes—if confirmed to be carried out by Pakistan—would mark a significant escalation, taking the military action directly into the Afghan capital for the first time in a major confrontation since the U.S. withdrawal. As the temporary ceasefire provides a window for dialogue, the future stability of the border and the two nations’ fraught relationship hinges on the ability of both sides to address their core security grievances.
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