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AFP, KABUL
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A Pakistani fighter jet crashed in Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s east, the Afghan military and police said yesterday, after Islamabad launched air strikes on at least three cities in a flare-up of cross-border fighting.
The US voiced its diplomatic support for Pakistan’s actions after Islamabad said it would not stop strikes that were meant to pressure an Afghan government that it accuses of backing militancy.
The Taliban government has denied harboring militants and its spokesperson has called for “dialogue” to resolve a previously simmering conflict that the Pakistani minister of defense said was now “open war.”
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist said they heard a jet flying over Jalalabad, followed by the sound of two explosions from the direction of the city’s airport.
Jalalabad residents also told AFP that they saw a person who parachuted from the plane before being detained.
“A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive,” police spokesman Tayeb Hammad said.
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the claims were “totally untrue.”
The Afghan Ministry of Defense said it carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory over the past two days, which observers said could have been drones.
Pakistan launched airstrikes on Friday on Kabul and southern Kandahar, where Afghan Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is based.
The Pakistani minister for information and broadcasting said 37 locations across Afghanistan had been subject to aerial targeting since its operation began, although it was not clear if strikes had taken place on Friday night.
“Pakistan’s immediate and effective response to aggression continues,” Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, wrote on X.
Meanwhile, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker said Washington “expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks.”
This week’s escalation marked the first time that Pakistan has focused its airstrikes on Afghan government facilities, a stark change from previous operations that it said targeted militants, analysts said.
Iran, which shares an eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Friday offered to help “facilitate dialogue,” while Saudi Arabia and Qatar moved to allay tensions.
China said it was “working with” both countries and called for calm.
