The following day, the Taliban-run defence ministry blamed the attacks on Pakistan, accusing its neighbor of violating its sovereignty. "Islamabad did not confirm that it was behind Thursday's attacks, but called on Kabul "to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil. "This evening, Taliban forces began using weapons. We fired first light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border," a senior official in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, told AFP. "Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire and shot down three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives.
