Pakistan launches deadly air strikes on Afghanistan
The Afghan Taliban says nine civilians have died while Pakistan says the strikes killed 22 militants.
Pakistan carries out deadly air strikes in Afghanistan
The Afghan Taliban says nine civilians were killed, while Pakistan says the strikes killed 22 militants.
Pakistan has carried out more air strikes on Afghanistan, killing nine civilians and wounding 11 others, the Taliban government said.
Islamabad’s information ministry confirmed the strikes, saying they killed twenty-two militants.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Afghan Taliban’s chief spokesman, said the strikes struck homes in the Kunar and Helmand provinces along the border with Pakistan. Women and children are among the dead, he said in an X post.
“We condemn this act as an aggression and crime in violation of all accepted principles,” he said.
Pakistan gave a very different account, saying the “well-planned and calibrated” attack targeted “terrorist camps” in Afghanistan, where large quantities of weapons and ammunition were stored.
Pakistan’s information ministry said maximum precautions were taken to make sure no collateral damage occurred.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militant groups that plan and carry out attacks on Pakistan from inside Afghanistan’s territory.
The Afghan Taliban deny this, saying Pakistan’s militancy is an internal problem, but it has caused a major deterioration in relations between the two neighbours.
Fighting between the former allies turned foes escalated sharply in February this year, with Pakistan declaring that it is in an “open war” with Afghanistan after a rise in deadly clashes and cross-border air strikes.
Talks mediated by China led to a fragile ceasefire in March.
Last month, a deadly attack on a police facility in north-west Pakistan, which killed 24 people, reignited tensions between the two countries.
Last week, Pakistan launched air strikes in Afghanistan that hit Kandahar, the Taliban’s base of power, among other provinces. According to the Afghan Taliban government, that earlier attack killed four civilians.