New Delhi: Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Wednesday accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes across eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 13 people, including 11 children, and wounding 14 others.
Taliban administration’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani aircraft struck targets in the provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika. Among those killed were 11 children, one woman and an elderly man, he said. In a message in Pashto on X, Mujahid wrote: “Last night, the invading Pakistani army once again violated Afghan territory, bombing civilian homes in Kunar, Khost, and Paktika provinces.”
Pakistan has not made any official statement yet. The attacks came a day after Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants launched an assault on a Pakistani security checkpoint in the Hasan Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, near the Afghan border. Pakistani authorities said six members of the Federal Constabulary were killed and several others wounded in the ensuing firefight.Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi later attended funeral prayers for the slain personnel in Peshawar.Since February, the two countries have engaged in a series of cross-border military actions that have resulted in deaths on both sides, raising fears of a broader conflict.Pakistan declared in February that it was effectively in a state of open war with Afghanistan following a surge in militant attacks inside its territory. Islamabad has also repeatedly accused Kabul of providing sanctuary to TTP fighters, who Pakistan says are responsible for deadly attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces. Afghan authorities have consistently denied those allegations.Tensions intensified further in March when Afghanistan accused Pakistan of conducting an airstrike on a drug-treatment center in Kabul, claiming more than 400 people were killed. Pakistan rejected the allegation, insisting that its forces targeted an ammunition depot and did not strike civilian facilities.
