Pakistan strikes Afghanistan, kills 9 children, Taliban says

Pakistan carried out airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan that killed at least 10 civilians, including nine children, the Taliban said on Tuesday.

What do we know about the Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan?

Pakistani intelligence sources told the DPA news agency that the strikes targeted the hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban group in the border province of Khost and other regions.

“A good number of militants have been killed and we will continue this,” an official told DPA.

Talibanspokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X that Pakistani forces “bombed the house of a local civilian” in Khost province late Monday, killing a woman and nine children.

He said further strikes hit Kunar and Paktika provinces, wounding four civilians.

Mujahid also condemned the strikes in a statement on X and wrote that Afghanistan’s Taliban government would “respond appropriately at the right time.”

The latest strikes risk last month’s fragile ceasefire between the neighbours after their deadliest clashes in decades.

Suicide bombing in Peshawar killed 3

The strikes came a day later suicide bombers targeted a security compoundin Pakistan’s Peshawar city, killing at least three officers and leaving at least 11 others injured, according to police.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, state broadcaster PTV said the attackers were Afghan nationals.

Pakistani President Asif Zardari blamed the “foreign-backed Fitna al-Khawarij,” Islamabad’s label for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it accuses of operating from Afghan territory.

Earlier this month, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Islamabad that killed 12 people.

Pakistan said the cell responsible was “guided… by the high command based in Afghanistan.”

Afghan-Pakistan relationship frayed

Relations between the neighbours have deteriorated sharply since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

In October, border clashes between the two countries left around 70 people dead with casualties on both sides.

Peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan ended in a stalemate, with the Taliban government blaming the impasse on what it called Pakistan’s “irresponsible and uncooperative” approach.

Islamabad had demanded that Kabul curb TTP militants who have waged a bloody campaign against Pakistan.