Armed forces shoot down 8 drones launched by Afghan Taliban near Torkham border, Kohat

Eight drones launched by the Afghan Taliban were shot down near the Torkham border and Kohat city on Wednesday morning, security sources said.

According to the sources, four of the drones were intercepted in areas close to Torkham, while the remaining four were brought down near Kohat. They said that Pakistan’s air defence systems detected and intercepted all eight drones. They described the systems as “active and vigilant”.

The armed forces and Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) Shaheens successfully foiled an attempt by the Afghan Taliban regime to target populated areas, the sources said.

Earlier, two “rudimentary” drones were brought down through “soft kill” measures about seven kilometres from Kohat. The security sources said that the air defence network remained on alert around the clock.

They described the incident as another indication of what they called the Afghan Taliban regime’s support for militant groups.

The reported drone interceptions came two days after Pakistan carried out “calibrated” airstrikes in areas along the Afghan border. The strikes followed a series of terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Ministry of Information said on Monday that more than 28 terrorists had been killed in the operation.