Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, including women and children, a Taliban government official said Wednesday.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, reported that six others were wounded in the strikes, which targeted the Paktika province near the Pakistan border.
The airstrikes followed a Pakistani military operation on Tuesday aimed at dismantling an insurgent training facility in Paktika, Pakistani security officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesperson for the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP), claimed the airstrikes killed 50 people, including 27 women and children. Local residents told AP that at least 13 were confirmed dead but feared the toll could rise. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.
Pakistan has not officially commented on the strikes in Afghanistan. However, its military reported Wednesday that 13 insurgents were killed in a separate intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan, a district bordering Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan condemned the strikes, alleging that most victims were refugees from Pakistan’s Waziristan region. Taliban officials have vowed retaliation.
“These attacks are unacceptable, and we hold Pakistan responsible for the loss of innocent lives,” Fitrat said in a statement.
The airstrikes come amid escalating tensions between the neighboring countries. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of failing to curb militant activities across their shared border, a claim Kabul denies.
The TTP, a separate group but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban, has intensified attacks in Pakistan. This includes a recent assault on a military checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwest, which killed 16 soldiers.
In March, Pakistan acknowledged conducting intelligence-based operations in Afghanistan’s border regions. Such actions, coupled with rising militant activity, have strained relations between the two countries.
The Afghan Taliban, which seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, has denied harboring insurgents or allowing its territory to be used for attacks on other nations.
