At least 13 civilians were killed and seven others injured in Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, the United Nations said amid an escalation in the armed conflict between the two neighbours.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) said it has “credible reports” that overnight Pakistani attacks targeted civilian areas in the Behsud and Khogyani districts of Nangarhar province in the country’s eastern region, killing and injuring 20 civilians.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are once again facing a major military confrontation with fears of disruption of a fragile ceasefire along their 2,600km-border.
Over the weekend, Afghanistan’s education ministry said five boys and three girls were killed in the Pakistani airstrikes on Behsud in Nangarhar province. One more student of madrasa was also injured in Barmal in Paktika province, the ministry said.
It also added that dozens of other civilians were killed or wounded and educational centres destroyed.
While the Taliban’s top officials have accused Pakistan of sowing instability in the region, Pakistan’s information ministry said the airstrikes were in retaliation to recent suicide attacks on Islamabad during Ramadan. The Pakistani government has accused militants operating from Afghanistan’s territory of carrying out the attack.
Pakistan's information ministry in a post on X said the "intelligence-based" operation struck seven camps of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and that it had "conclusive evidence" the militant assaults on Pakistan were directed by "Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers”.
The air raids in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces killed at least “80 militants in intelligence-based air strikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border targeting seven camps”, the Pakistan authorities have claimed.
In response, Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson vowed retaliation, claiming that the attack from Pakistan’s military has killed “innocent women and children”. The Taliban will hit back at Pakistan’s military targets and not civilians, Mr Mujahid said.
Mr Mujahid said a specific circle within Pakistan was acting at the direction of the superpowers and looking to create instability in the region, reported Tolo news.
“Pakistan claimed it targeted the TTP centres but it is evident that women and children were martyred. Were the deceased children members of the TTP?” he asked.
Pakistan’s government has a mission not only to destabilise Afghanistan, but the entire region, the Taliban spokesperson said.
The Taliban-run government in Kabul has repeatedly denied the presence of militants to use Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan.
On Tuesday, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi took the military escalation issue to the UN as he spoke with the UN under-secretary general for political affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, calling Pakistan’s accusations “baseless”.
“He expressed deep concern and noted that in the past four years, only civilians have been targeted in such repeated attacks by Pakistan. Also, no militants have ever been killed in these attacks, which the Pakistani side claims to have targeted,” the Taliban’s foreign affairs ministry said, sharing the details of the telephonic exchange between the two.
Mr Muttaqi has assured the UN official that there are no armed groups in Afghanistan and invited all diplomatic corps to visit the site targeted by Pakistan in the latest attack.
The Afghan foreign ministry has also summoned Pakistan's ambassador.
The strikes come just days after Kabul released three Pakistani soldiers in a Saudi-mediated exchange in signs of improving ties between the two countries.
Afghanistan's defence ministry condemned the strikes and called them a violation of sovereignty and international law, saying an "appropriate and measured response will be taken at a suitable time”.
Why Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban are fighting and what happens next
Pakistan claims to have killed 70 militants in strikes along Afghanistan border
Pakistan launches airstrikes on Afghanistan killing and wounding dozens
British national among at least 19 killed as bus plunges off Nepal mountain
At least 16 killed after gas explosion rips through apartment building in Pakistan
Sri Lanka MPs vote overwhelmingly to scrap their pensions in post-crisis reform move
