PAKISTAN’S president warned neighbouring Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Saturday that it had “crossed a red line” by launching drone attacks on civilian areas in Pakistan.

The statement by Asif Ali Zardari was the latest in what has become the deadliest fighting yet between the two south Asian neighbours.

The cross-border clashes, which erupted late last month, have shown no signs of abating despite efforts by China and Turkey to broker a ceasefire.

Pakistan said its forces intercepted the drones launched on Friday, but that falling debris injured two children in the city of Quetta and two people elsewhere in the country.

According to state-run media, Pakistan’s air force carried out strikes late on Saturday in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar Province, targeting an Afghan military facility that had allegedly been used to launch drone attacks into Pakistan a day earlier and that the facility was also being used by the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban for “acts of terrorism” in Pakistan.

Pakistan TV, citing security officials, reported that the latest strikes were intended to signal to Kabul that Afghan territory cannot be used for cross-border attacks against Pakistan.

There was no immediate comment from Kabul about the latest strikes in Kandahar.