Pakistan has launched fresh airstrikes on 10 sites in Afghanistan, saying the targets were linked to drone attacks and militant activity against Pakistan. The strikes come amid a sharp rise in tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, following reported drone incursions, cross-border firing and a deadly militant attack in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistan says the latest strikes were “deliberate, precise, calibrated and limited” and focused on military and militant targets. Islamabad has linked the escalation to groups it identifies as Fitna-ul-Khawarij and TTP, while the Afghan Taliban has denied responsibility for attacks against Pakistan and rejected Islamabad’s accusations. Pakistan also said its forces recently shot down eight drones that entered its airspace from Afghanistan, with four intercepted near Torkham and four near Kohat. WATCH

Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are facing another major escalation, with fresh border clashes now followed by sweeping restrictions on Afghan medical students studying in Pakistan. Pakistan’s military says more than 20 “terrorists” were killed during operations along the Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between August 31 and September 5. Now, the fallout is reaching education. Pakistan’s medical regulator has ordered Afghan medical and dental students already enrolled in Pakistani institutions to return to Afghanistan. New admissions have been stopped, while transfers and migrations have also been banned until further orders.