By Mohammad Yunus Yawar
People stand near a house damaged in what the Taliban said was a Pakistani air strike on the outskirts of Kabul
KABUL, March 13 (Reuters) - Pakistan bombed the fuel depot of private airline Kam Air near Afghanistan's Kandahar airport, the Taliban said on Friday, a significant escalation in the worst conflict in years between the neighbours despite China's efforts to mediate.
Following Beijing's stepped up mediation efforts, no Pakistani air strikes were reported by either side in over a week until the bombing in Kandahar. Ground clashes along the 2,600 km (1,600 mile) border had also tapered off, although there had been intermittent bouts of fighting.
"The company (Kam Air) supplies fuel to civilian airlines as well as to United Nations aircraft," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Pakistan also carried out bombings in other areas, including the capital Kabul, with women and children among those killed as civilian homes were targeted in some locations, he said, adding that the aggression would "not go unanswered".
Pakistani security sources said the military had carried out overnight strikes on four militant hideouts in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia province, including one targeting an oil storage facility at the Kandahar airfield.
Afghanistan's defence ministry said it carried out drone strikes in response on a Pakistani military base in the northern city of Kohat, causing heavy damage.
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Pakistan's military and information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The fighting erupted last month with Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan that Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds. Afghanistan called the strikes a violation of sovereignty as it launched retaliatory attacks.
Militancy has been a bone of contention between allies-turned-foes Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Islamabad saying Kabul provides safe haven to militants executing attacks on Pakistan.
The Taliban, however, denies the allegation and says militancy is Pakistan's internal problem.
Reuters had reported on Thursday that mediation efforts by China, which had been urging an end to the violence, had helped ease the fighting.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi had also said that Islamabad and Beijing were engaged in a "dialogue process" on Afghanistan.
(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Saad Sayeed in Bangkok; Additional reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar in Mumbai; Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Raju Gopalakrishnan)