ISLAMABAD/KABUL: Pakistani fighter jets carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan to target alleged hideouts of Islamist militants that Islamabad blamed for two suicide bombings including one in the capital last week, officials in both countries said on Tuesday (Nov 25).
The latest strikes put in danger a fragile ceasefire between the neighbouring countries with a violent past, which was brokered by Qatar and Turkey last month after their deadliest clashes in decades.
The jets targeted the hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban group in the border province of Khost and other regions, intelligence sources in Islamabad told dpa.
"A good number of militants have been killed and we will continue this," an official said, without giving any details or an exact figure.
The Afghan Taliban government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in Kabul that the strikes targeted a civilian home and that nine children and a woman were killed.
The strikes come a day after three suicide bombers tried to storm the headquarters of a paramilitary force in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing three soldiers before being shot down.
Pakistan's defence minister announced last month that his country would respond with airstrikes if any attack was traced to Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban, a group of Islamist militants allegedly based in Afghanistan's border regions, is blamed for a surge in violence against Pakistani security forces in recent years.
Islamabad has accused the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan of supporting, or at least sheltering, the group despite several warnings. - dpa
