Reports that Pakistan had launched airstrikes in Afghanistan were explicitly refuted by the Foreign Office as it characterised them as “utterly unfounded and mischievous”.
The FO statement comes after certain Afghan media repeatedly claimed on Thursday that Pakistani fighter planes had bombed suspected Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist hideouts in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. However, the two countries’ security services refuted their assertion.
According to The Republic News, the journalists even uploaded an old shot of smoke pouring out of a mountain, alleging that it was the location attacked by Pakistani planes.
The bogus story was also extensively circulated in Afghan journalist WhatsApp groups, alleging that numerous Pakistani insurgents were killed in the airstrikes.
