Pakistan’s military said yesterday it had intercepted four drones sent from Afghanistan the previous day, the latest incident in months of conflict between the two neighbours.

The Taliban government had vowed a response to deadly Pakistani airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan this week and the Afghan defence ministry said in a statement overnight it had carried out aerial operations targeting militants in Pakistani border provinces.

Pakistan’s military said Afghan Taliban forces on Tuesday had “launched four rudimentary drones across the border in Balochistan... aerial platforms were immediately picked up by air defence network”.

“If the Afghan Taliban continue to provoke... they would receive a befitting response which would cost them heavily,” it added.