Kabul, Dec 26: Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday issued a stern warning to Pakistan, urging Islamabad to learn the lessons of history before targetting Afghanistan.

“Afghans will not forget the invasion of their territory, and Pakistani rulers should adopt a measured policy,” several reports quoted Muttaqi as saying on Thursday afternoon during an event marking the 45th anniversary of the Soviet invasion.

During his speech, the foreign minister warned Pakistan to “learn from the fate of the Soviet Union and the United States”, emphasising that Afghanistan will never accept invasions. He also reportedly called on the people of Pakistan to stop their rulers’ wrong policies.

Muttaqi’s strong reaction came less than 48 hours after Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan that killed 46 people, including several women and children on Tuesday night.

The airstrikes by Pakistani fighter jets on parts of Barmal district in Paktika province was the second instance this year of Islamabad directly hitting “civilian areas” on Afghan territory. In March, a similar strike had killed eight people, including three children.

Islamabad’s action has triggered a massive condemnation from people in the war-torn country and the Taliban regime even as several analysts in Pakistan also reckon that the move is fraught with risks.

Enayatullah Khwarazmi, the spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, stated on Wednesday that Pakistan must realise such arbitrary actions do not solve any problems.

“The Islamic Emirate considers this brutal act a violation of all international principles and an outright aggression, and strongly condemns it. The Pakistani side must understand that such arbitrary actions are not a solution to any problem,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Afghan news outlet Tolo news.

Hamid Karzai, the former President of Afghanistan, while condemning the airstrikes of the Pakistani military forces in the “strongest terms”, called it a blatant aggression and violation of Afghan sovereignty.

Karzai said the tension in relations between the two countries was the product of Pakistan’s wrong policies of strengthening extremism in the region and trying to weaken Afghanistan.

He warned that civilized relations based on good neighbourliness would be in the interest of both countries.

Hafiz Zia Ahmad, Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul, was also called to the Afghan foreign ministry and issued a strong demarche.

While there has been no official reaction from the Pakistan government or the military establishment on the airstrikes, the local media insists that the action was in response to a recent surge in TTP-sponsored terrorist attacks, including the recent attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that resulted in the death of 16 Pakistani soldiers.

“Perhaps this seemingly paradoxical approach has been employed to send the message to Kabul that while Islamabad is ready to talk, it is also willing to strike at anti-Pakistan terrorists inside Afghanistan if the Taliban fail to act,” stated an editorial in Pakistani Daily ‘Dawn’ on Thursday.

Gaza, Dec 26: At least 22 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Civil Defence in Gaza, told Media that Israeli aircraft targeted tents housing displaced persons inside the Al-Muhabban school in northern Gaza City on Wednesday.

Civil defence crews recovered at least seven bodies and 25 injured individuals from the school following the Israeli attacks, transferring them to a local hospital, Basal said. Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that the tents caught fire and some bodies were mutilated in the bombing.

The Israeli military said in a press statement that an Israeli Air Force aircraft, acting on intelligence, targeted a Hamas member in the Al-Furqan area of Gaza City. The statement claimed the military took precautions, including the use of precision munitions, aerial photographs, and intelligence, to minimise civilian casualties.

In Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza, four people were killed in an Israeli bombing of a house sheltering displaced people, while paramedics reported four more deaths in an Israeli bombardment targeting a group of Palestinians east of Jabalia.

Khalil Al-Daqran, spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, said three bodies and dozens of wounded arrived at the hospital after a gathering east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza was targeted. The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis also reported receiving four bodies following an Israeli airstrike on a house east of the city.

According to an update released by Gaza’s health authorities on Wednesday, 45,361 Palestinians have been killed and 107,803 others injured since October 7, 2023.

The Israeli escalation followed a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israeli towns, which Israeli reports say resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and over 200 taken hostage.

Aktau (Kazakhstan), Dec 25: A passenger plane carrying over 100 people crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, according to reports from the country’s Emergencies Ministry.

Local media outlet Kazpravda.kz reported that the crash caused a fire at the site.

“A total of 52 rescuers from the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry and 11 pieces of equipment arrived at the scene. Upon arrival, they found the plane engulfed in flames. Firefighters are currently working to extinguish the blaze. Preliminary data suggests there are survivors,” the Ministry stated.

Initial reports indicate that at least 105 passengers and five crew members were on board. While the exact toll remains unclear, at least 25 survivors have been reported, with 22 hospitalised.

Rescue operations are ongoing, and details about the victims are being verified.

The plane, an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer ERJ-190, was flying from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya. It was rerouted to Aktau due to dense fog.

Online flight tracking website FlightRadar24 data shows the plane flying over the Caspian Sea and heading towards its destination, in Chechnya. As the plane entered Russia’s territorial borders, it started circling near the airport. Following this, it requested an emergency landing.

At 6:28 am local time, the plane crashed a few kilometres away from the airport.

According to FlightRadar24, the plane was exposed to “strong GPS jamming, which made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data.” Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.

Unverified videos circulating on social media show the moment the plane crashed, bursting into flames, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

An operational headquarters has been established at the Command Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, with a hotline made available for inquiries.

Further updates on the incident are awaited.