Pakistani airstrikes on three Afghan provinces killed at least 13 people, including 11 children, , the Afghan Taliban government said, in a renewal of a conflict that has claimed hundreds of lives this year.
At least 14 others – all of them children and women – were injured in strikes that violated Afghanistan’s airspace and bombed civilian homes in the provinces of Kunar, Khost and Paktika, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Pakistan said the “calibrated strikes” along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border killed 26 militants and were a response to a recent spate of attacks in the country’s northwest.
“Based on credible intelligence, selective targeting of camps and hideouts was carried out with precision and accuracy,” Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on X yesterday.
“Four targets were completely destroyed, including a training centre, a hideout and an ammunition cache.”
Islamabad has blamed Kabul for harbouring militants that it says plot attacks in Pakistan. Militant attacks in Pakistan have risen fourfold since 2022, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, the year after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. — Reuters
