Thursday 24 September 2026 · Edition of the day

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The Skeptic's Daily

The day's biggest stories, taken apart. For each one: what is actually established, what is only asserted, the questions worth asking — and a plausibility score for the central claim, given everything currently known.

Stories
2
Average plausibility
77%
How to read the score
It rates how well the core claim is evidenced — not how important the story is, nor whether it is good or bad news.
RegionAllGlobalAfricaNorth AmericaSouth AmericaAsia-PacificEuropeMiddle East
TopicAllPoliticsConflict & SecurityBusinessScienceHealth
01Conflict & SecurityAsia-Pacific

Pakistan strikes ten sites in Afghanistan after cross-border drone attacks

Islamabad calls the operation precise and proportionate; Kabul calls the militancy Pakistan's own internal problem.

Pakistan says it struck ten locations in Khost province, Afghanistan, targeting sites allegedly used to store and launch drones in cross-border attacks. The information minister described the strikes as deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate. The Khost governor's office reported no casualties. The strikes follow an attack on a Pakistani police facility that killed at least 21 people.

What holds up

  • ✓The strikes occurred, per AFP, AP and Reuters reporting relayed by Al Jazeera.
  • ✓The preceding attack on the police facility and its death toll.

What doesn't yet

  • ?The 'no casualties' figure comes from a single local office and is unverified.
  • ?'Precise and proportionate' is a self-assessment by the party that carried out the strikes.
  • ?Whether Afghanistan actually harbours the militants remains an unresolved dispute between the two governments.

Ask before you share

  • →Is there independent evidence linking the drones to bases in Khost, or only Pakistani assertion?
  • →Has any aid organization or journalist reached the struck sites?
  • →What is the escalation ladder here, given how quickly this flared in February?

Sources & original reporting

  1. [1]Al Jazeera · Published 24 Sept 2026 · aljazeera.com
02Conflict & SecurityAsia-Pacific

Indonesia hosts the largest ASEAN-led disaster-response exercise in a decade

Exercise Trident Resolve brings 2,200 personnel from 19 countries to Java to rehearse responses to earthquakes, eruptions and tsunamis.

Indonesia is hosting Exercise Trident Resolve from 20 to 26 September 2026 in Banten, described as the largest ADMM-Plus field exercise by personnel in a decade. Around 2,200 participants come from all ten ASEAN states plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States. It combines cyber-security, humanitarian and military-medicine components for the first time.

What holds up

  • ✓Dates, location and participant list are reported by The Straits Times.
  • ✓The comparison to the 2016 exercise as the previous largest is cited in the same report.

What doesn't yet

  • ?Calling it a 'milestone in trust-building' is official framing, not independent assessment.
  • ?The effectiveness of the combined components has not yet been evaluated.

Ask before you share

  • →Will lessons translate into faster real-world disaster response?
  • →How does the presence of rivals — China, Russia and the US — affect cooperation on the ground?
  • →Can this scale be sustained in future years?

Sources & original reporting

  1. [1]The Straits Times · Accessed 24 Sept 2026 · straitstimes.com