Pakistan Carries Out Airstrikes in Afghanistan as Border Tensions Escalate

Pakistan carried out airstrikes on suspected militant positions in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, with Pakistani security officials saying 28 militants were killed, while authorities in Kabul said three civilians died and four others were wounded.

The strikes hit areas of Kunar and Paktika provinces near the Pakistani border, marking a renewed escalation between the two neighbouring countries after several months of relative calm. The conflicting casualty claims could not immediately be independently verified.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry said the military had conducted intelligence-based strikes against militant camps and hideouts in the border region. Pakistani officials said the targets were linked to groups responsible for recent attacks inside Pakistan.

The Afghan Taliban government condemned the strikes and said they would receive a response. Government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of targeting Afghan territory and described the operation as aggression.

Afghan deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said the strikes took place at around 3am in Nurgal district of Kunar and Barmal district of Paktika. He said a house in Patan village in Nurgal was destroyed, killing three members of one family and injuring four others.

Fitrat also said strikes in the Rakhah and Tor Kundi areas of Barmal destroyed a shop and an unoccupied house, but caused no additional casualties.

The strikes followed a series of deadly attacks on Pakistani security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including an assault in Kohat on Friday. A suicide bomber attacked a mosque inside a police compound before armed militants entered the facility, triggering a prolonged gunbattle. Pakistani authorities said at least 21 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded.

On Sunday, six Pakistani security personnel, including two army officers, were killed during a clash with militants in Hangu, another district near the Afghan border.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban government of allowing militant groups, particularly the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, to operate from Afghan territory. Kabul has denied the allegations and said militancy inside Pakistan is an internal matter.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry warned over the weekend that Islamabad had the ability and willingness to target militant groups inside Afghanistan. The ministry called on Kabul to take what it described as credible and sustained measures against militant sanctuaries and training networks.

The latest strikes threaten to further complicate diplomatic efforts by countries including China and other regional states to ease tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.

Relations have deteriorated sharply since February, when Pakistan and Afghanistan engaged in their most serious cross-border clashes in years. The fighting followed Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and retaliatory Afghan attacks, with hundreds reported killed during the subsequent conflict.

Monday’s strikes represent another significant deterioration in relations and raise concerns about further cross-border military action if diplomatic efforts fail to reduce tensions.