Pakistan’s president is defending cross-border strikes in Afghanistan and urges the Taliban government to disarm militants attacking his country.

Afghan officials said they had thwarted a Pakistani airstrike on the former U.S. base, Bagram airfield, amid an intensifying campaign that has targeted dozens of military sites across the country.

Iran, Afghanistan’s western neighbor, has also carried out expulsions, further straining resources in impoverished Afghanistan. The U.N.’s refugee agency says a total of 5.4 million people have returned to the country since October 2023, mostly from Pakistan and Iran.

Pakistan's military, backed by artillery and air power, struck more military installations deep inside Afghanistan overnight after Pakistan said it was in "open war" with its eastern neighbor.

Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan showed its overwhelming superiority in conventional warfare, but the Taliban have refined a lethal repertoire of guerrilla tactics.

According to the ministry, the operations were conducted by the 203 Mansouri, 201 Silab, and 205 Al-Badr Corps, resulting not only in fatalities but also in injuries to 10 Pakistani soldiers and the destruction of four military outposts.

The Foreign Office, in a statement on Friday, said these operations were conducted in response to repeated terrorist attacks by Fitna-e-Khawarij and Fitna-e-Hindustan against Pakistan emanating from Afghan soil,