Fighters

Afghan officials deny claims, as they accuse Pakistan of targeting civilians and violating its sovereignty in Sunday’s border air raids.

A senior Pakistani government official has claimed that its military killed at least 70 fighters in air raids along the border with Afghanistan, claims Kabul has denied, amid escalating tensions between the two South Asian neighbours.

Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, offered no evidence for his claim in an interview with Geo News on Sunday evening that at least 70 rebels were killed in the attack. Pakistan’s state media reported that the death toll had jumped to 80; however, there was no official confirmation.

Pakistan’s military carried out the air raids early on Sunday, targeting what it called “camps and hideouts” belonging to armed groups behind a spate of recent attacks, including a deadly suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in the capital, Islamabad.

The country’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote on X that the military conducted “intelligence-based, selective operations” against seven camps belonging to the Pakistan Taliban group, known by the acronym TTP, and its affiliates.

Tarar said Pakistan “has always strived to maintain peace and stability in the region”, but added that the safety and security of Pakistani citizens remained a top priority.

President Asif Ali Zardari said late on Sunday that Pakistan’s recent attacks along the Afghan border were “rooted in [its] inherent right to defend its people against terrorism” after repeated warnings to Kabul went unheeded.

The attacks threaten a fragile ceasefire between the South Asian neighbours, negotiated following deadly border clashes that killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected fighters in October last year.

Pakistan said it has repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban government to take action to prevent armed groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks, but that Kabul has failed to “undertake any substantive action”.

Afghanistan has rejected Pakistani allegations that its territory is used by armed groups linked to attacks in Pakistan.

Afghanistan denies claims

The Afghan Ministry of Defence said in a statement that “various civilian areas” in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika were hit, including a religious school and several homes. The statement called the attacks a violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and sovereignty.

Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “people’s homes have been destroyed, they have targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of the two eastern provinces.

Residents from around the remote Bihsud district in Nangarhar joined searchers to look for bodies under the rubble using shovels and a digger, the AFP news agency reported.

“People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” resident Amin Gul Amin, 37, told AFP.

Spokesperson Mujahid also said Pakistan’s claim of killing 70 fighters was “inaccurate”.

Mawlawi Fazl Rahman Fayyaz, the provincial director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in Nangarhar province, said 18 people were killed and several others were wounded.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul to protest against the attacks.

In a statement, the ministry said protecting Afghanistan’s territory is its “Sharia responsibility”, warning that Pakistan would be held responsible for the consequences of such attacks.

An elite U.S. Navy test and evaluation squadron, the VX-9 “Vampires” based out of NAWS China Lake, are now flying the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A model. The Navy traditionally flies the carrier-capable F-35C and the Marines fly both the short-takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B and the F-35C.

The news that the seagoing service is operating the A model of the Joint Strike Fighter came from aviation photographer @Task_Force23, who captured the VX-9 F-35A as it did a low-approach at Mojave Air and Space Port on January 23rd. He was kind enough to share his photos with our readers.

The aircraft in question was 17-5240, an F-35A that had previously served in a test capacity with the USAF’s 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron based at Nellis Air Force Base. As for how the jet ended up being flown by the USN, the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) tells us:

“We have a service agreement whereby the Air Force can loan the Navy an aircraft and they have done that before.”

We have asked additional questions about the arrangement to the JPO, we will update this post when we hear back.

Regardless, it makes sense that Navy can pull from the Air Force’s much larger F-35A fleet for test and evaluation duties, the activities of which often benefit both services due to the joint nature of the F-35 program. The entire F-35C production target for the Navy and Marines is 273 aircraft (as of 2024), and many of those aircraft are yet to be ordered and delivered. In comparison, the USAF had well over 500 F-35As in its inventory at the start of fiscal year 2025. That number has only grown.

The F-35C that the Navy flies has much larger wings than the A, allowing it to approach the carrier at lower speeds. It also has a beefier landing gear for carrier operations, a robust tail hook, and it carries more fuel, among other tweaks. While the two fly similar and conversion from F-35C to A is likely relatively seamless, the C model is restricted to 7.5Gs compared to the A’s 9Gs. Due to the big wing and G restriction, they perform different in areas of the envelope, such as turns. High speed performance is also a bit different due to the big wings on the C. But those differences are fairly minimal, especially for test duties of a relatively mature aircraft that often have more to do with avionics, software, and weapons integration than raw performance and flying qualities. There are other use cases VX-9 could have for F-35As, as well, but generally this would be a capacity issue.

Still, it is certainly… different… seeing an F-35A emblazoned with NAVY on its side and VX-9’s iconic bat on its tail.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com