Pakistan shoots down eight drones ‘launched from Afghanistan’ amid fresh border clashes

Pakistan's security forces on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) shot down eight drones allegedly launched from Afghanistan after they entered Pakistani airspace, security sources said, as fresh clashes along the border added to tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

Four drones were brought down near the Torkham border and another four in mountainous areas near Kohat in northwest Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the sources said.

The claims could not be independently verified.

Some of the drones were described as rudimentary models, with those detected near Kohat neutralised through a "soft-kill" operation, the sources said.

Pakistani authorities alleged that the drones were intended to target public areas and described the incident as further evidence of what they called the Afghan Taliban's support for militants operating against Pakistan.