Drone intercepted near Rawalpindi PAF base as Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions surge after Kabul airstrike claims and denial. Photos: X.
Pakistan-Afghanistan War: A drone-like object was intercepted near a Pakistan Air Force base in Rawalpindi, with eyewitnesses from the city’s Chaklala area sharing visuals of an explosion near power lines. Videos circulating online showed smoke billowing from a rooftop following the blast.
According to local accounts, there were no casualties or reports of major damage. Witnesses also claimed that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets were scrambled overhead, while air defence systems carried out what appeared to be a “hard kill” of the drone at around 6:50 a.m. local time.
The incident comes amid a series of recent drone neutralisations that have been linked to the Taliban operating from Afghanistan.
The reported drone incursion took place shortly after Afghanistan accused Pakistan of carrying out a deadly airstrike in Kabul.
On Monday, Afghan authorities alleged that Pakistani strikes targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in the capital, killing at least 400 people. The claim has significantly escalated tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
Pakistan on Tuesday denied the accusations, calling them “false and misleading.”
According to Pakistan’s information ministry, as reported by Reuters, the country maintained that its airstrikes, also conducted in eastern Afghanistan, did not hit civilian sites.
Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said in a post on X that the airstrike hit the hospital at around 9:00 p.m. local time.
He stated that large sections of the 2,000-bed facility were destroyed in the attack.
Fitrat added that the death toll had “so far” reached 400 people, with approximately 250 others reported injured.
The latest escalation marks one of the most severe rounds of fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent years.
The current phase of conflict began in late February, when Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to earlier Pakistani airstrikes inside its territory.
The renewed clashes effectively disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October, which had followed earlier fighting that killed dozens of soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants.
Pakistan has since declared that it is in “open war” with Afghanistan, signalling a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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