Pakistan carried out airstrikes across three Afghan provinces on June 10, killing at least 12 to 13 civilians according to Afghan officials, with 11 of those reported dead being children. Pakistan’s military told a very different story, claiming the strikes successfully eliminated 26 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ISIS-K militants.
The strikes hit Afghanistan’s Khost, Kunar, and Paktika provinces.
A war that keeps getting worse
This is a chapter in what has become known as the 2026 Afghanistan-Pakistan war, a conflict that escalated dramatically after initial Pakistani airstrikes earlier this year prompted Taliban retaliation. Pakistan responded by declaring what it called “open war” under the banner of Operation Ghazab lil Haq.
The United Nations has been tracking the human cost. Over 370 Afghan civilians were killed in just the first three months of 2026, according to UN data. Of those deaths, airstrikes accounted for 64%.
