ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's armed forces shot down rudimentary drones that entered the country's airspace from Afghanistan on Wednesday, security officials said, the latest in a series of cross-border incursions.
As may as eight drones were intercepted about seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from the city of Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Pakistan's air defense systems remain on round-the-clock alert "against all threats from the Kharjistan," the officials said, using a term for the border region.
The incident came two days after Pakistan conducted what officials described as "calibrated" airstrikes in the border region with Afghanistan targeting terrorist hideouts and safe havens. The Information Ministry said more than 28 terrorists were killed in the strikes.
"It is a matter of grave concern that Afghanistan continues to remain a hub of terrorism," the ministry said, adding that "the threat to Pakistan emanates from Afghanistan."
The airstrikes followed a major attack on the old Police Lines compound in Kohat that killed 23 people and wounded about 100 others. Eight terrorists were killed during an overnight clearance operation.
In July, the Afghan Taliban regime launched four rudimentary drones across the border into Balochistan province, which were shot down by security forces. Two drones were also downed in June in Qila Abdullah and Chagai districts.
Terrorism has resurged in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.
On Sept. 20, two officers and four others were killed while eight terrorists were eliminated during an exchange of fire between a security forces convoy and armed militants, the military's media wing said.
