At least 17 Afghan civilians died, and a dozen others were injured as the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) conducted airstrikes, targeting civilian residential areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. Islamabad targeted Afghan-based terrorist groups – which it blames for the recent suicide attacks.
According to the Afghan government, “dozens of people” were killed and wounded in the attack.
“Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children,” Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X.
Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, in a post on X, confirmed the attack, citing three attacks since the start of Ramadan last week. “Pakistan has carried out intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates in the border region,” he said.
Tarar added that Pakistan also targeted an affiliate of the Islamic State group – which had claimed responsibility for the recent attack on a mosque in Islamabad in which 31 people died, and more than 160 were injured. This was one of the deadliest attacks on Islamabad since the 2008 Marriott hotel bombing.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021. The relationship between the two countries has deteriorated sharply with deadly border clashes in recent months, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of allowing Afghan soil to be used to harbour terrorists.
However, the Taliban government in Kabul denies the allegations.