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Heavy weapons and ammunition seized from retreating Taliban forces are shown amid Operation Ghazab Lil Haq.
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistani airstrikes hit Taliban military installations in major urban centers in Afghanistan as part of “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq” launched in response to “unprovoked and miscalculated” attacks on Pakistani border posts on Thursday.
Taliban regime officials confirmed airstrikes deep into Afghanistan, as far as the capital, Kabul, but downplayed their losses. Kabul residents, however, reported hearing secondary explosions for an hour that shook homes across the Afghan capital.
Video verified by Reuters showed thick plumes of black smoke rising over Darulaman, a residential neighborhood in western Kabul that is also home to several government and military complexes, as a fire engulfed part of the depot and repeated flashes lit up the night sky as munitions ignited inside.
Residents said the shelling began shortly after midnight. “We were asleep when we heard the sound of a plane,” said Tamim, a taxi driver who lives near the station. “It came and dropped two bombs, then flew away again. After that, we heard explosions.”
He said the initial explosions were followed by continuous detonations as stored ammunition caught fire. “The ammunition inside the magazine kept exploding on its own,” he said. “Everyone, in a panic, ran down from the second floor of the house.”
Tamim said the fire burned until around 6 a.m., when it was brought under control. “The fire was very intense. We were very scared and even planned to leave the area,” he said.
Danish, a 35-year-old pharmacist who lives about 10 minutes from the depot, said he had been awake following news of rising tensions. “I couldn’t sleep again until morning.”
Reuters witnesses in other parts of Kabul reported hearing loud explosions and the sound of planes, followed by ambulance sirens cutting through the night.
Mohammad Ali, 31, who sells mobile electrical accessories, said he was at a guesthouse when an explosion at around 2am startled them awake. “At first we thought it was an earthquake,” he said, but we soon realized it was gunshots.
Afghanistan is already mired in poverty, unemployment and worsening hunger since the collapse of aid deliveries after the Taliban recaptured Kabul in 2021 following a two-decade insurgency against the U.S.-backed government.
For many in the capital, the strike revived memories of past conflicts.
Exhausted by heavy losses suffered in the Pakistani blitzkrieg, the Taliban regime said it was willing to negotiate with Islamabad as international calls for a reduction in tension grew. The regime’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, stated that Afghanistan wants to resolve the conflict with Pakistan through dialogue.
