The Afghan Taliban administration has accused Pakistan of killing at least 13 people during air strikes conducted in the border provinces of Kunar, Chost, and Paktika. According to the Taliban, the strikes, which reportedly occurred late Tuesday evening, were the most severe in several weeks. A Taliban spokesman specified that the deceased included eleven children, one woman, and an elderly man, while 14 other children and women sustained injuries. He condemned the attacks as a “humanitarian crime” and an “act of aggression.”
The air strikes were allegedly in response to suspected attacks by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on a security outpost located in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. During the subsequent clashes, the Pakistani interior ministry reported that six members of a paramilitary unit were killed and several others injured.
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have remained strained since the Taliban regained power in 2021. The violence escalated at the end of February, after Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack in retaliation for Pakistani air strikes.
