Pakistan says it hit militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s Kandahar as
fighting shows no letup
[March 16, 2026]
By MUNIR AHMED and ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan said Sunday it targeted militant
hideouts in Afghanistan’s Kandahar region overnight, as the fighting
that erupted between the two neighbors late last month showed no signs
of abating.
The cross-border fighting, which has included Pakistani airstrikes in
the Afghan capital, Kabul, is the deadliest yet between the two South
Asian nations. Islamabad has referred to the conflict as an “open war,”
adding to concerns about regional stability as the U.S.-Israeli war with
Iran engulfs the Middle East and beyond.
In a post on X, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the
military had struck equipment storage facilities and “technical support
infrastructure” in overnight attacks in Kandahar.
Afghan government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Pakistan had hit two
locations: a site used by security guards during the day that was empty
at night, and a drug rehabilitation center that suffered slight damage.
He said there were no casualties, but that the strikes showed that
Pakistan was “continuing to invade and fuel the fire of war.”
Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said it carried out an attack on a
Pakistani army camp in Pakistan’s South Waziristan area on Sunday in
retaliation for the strikes in Kandahar. It claimed the attack destroyed
most of the camp’s command center and other facilities, and inflicted
heavy casualties on the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information rejected the claim as “propaganda,”
saying that a small drone was struck down and that “no military
installation or infrastructure was hit.”
Afghanistan also said it carried out operations inside Pakistan across
the border from Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, claiming to have captured
a Pakistani military outpost and killed several soldiers. Pakistan also
rejected those claims.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of harboring militant
groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban, which
stage attacks inside Pakistan. Afghanistan denies the charge, insisting
it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.
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Residents inspect the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan,
Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Barackatullah Popal)
The latest fighting erupted in late February, when Afghanistan
launched a cross-border attack into Pakistan in retaliation for
Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan days earlier that it said
had killed only civilians. The clashes upended a ceasefire that had
been brokered by Qatar last October following fighting that had
killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.
On Sunday, a mortar fired from Afghanistan destroyed a home in
Bajaur, a district in northwestern Pakistan, killing at last four
members of the same family and wounding two others, local government
official Adnan Khan said.
Both sides have accused the other of targeting civilians, and dozens
have been killed.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday said Afghanistan’s
government had “ crossed a red line ” by launching drone attacks on
civilian areas in Pakistan, and hours later the country reportedly
conducted strikes on an Afghan drone storage facility.
___
Abdul Qahar Afghan reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated
Press writer Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, contributed to this
report.
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