Afghan and Pakistani Officials Trade Accusations After Cross-Border Strikes Kill Civilians
Afghan authorities say Pakistani ground operations and airstrikes killed at least 36 civilians and injured more than 160, while Pakistan claims the attacks targeted militants in response to recent attacks on its soil.
Pakistani security forces carried out a ground operation along the Afghanistan border on Sunday night, followed by airstrikes that Afghan officials say killed at least 36 civilians and wounded more than 160 people in the provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan independently verified at least 28 civilian deaths and 49 injuries, noting that the figures are preliminary.
Afghanistan condemned the strikes, describing them as a "cowardly act of aggression" and an "act of brutality." > "Afghanistan will respond in due time," said Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, deputy minister for publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture. The Taliban-run government’s deputy spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, reported that a home in Paktia’s Chamkani district was hit, killing an older man and a child, with additional casualties when rescuers arrived. Similar attacks were reported in Giyan district, Paktika, and a civilian home in Kunar province.
Pakistan defended the operation as retaliation for militant attacks inside its territory, including a recent assault on a paramilitary headquarters in Karachi that killed three soldiers. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes destroyed militant camps belonging to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khawarij, and that the counter-terrorism campaign would continue at full pace.
Both sides summoned each other’s senior diplomats to protest the incidents. > "Pakistan’s behavior seriously harms the atmosphere of trust between the two countries, good neighborly relations and the security and stability of the region," said Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson for Afghanistan’s foreign ministry. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it had called in Afghanistan’s top diplomat to protest the involvement of Afghan nationals in attacks on Pakistani soil.
India denied any role in the cross-border violence, with a foreign ministry spokesperson calling Pakistan’s accusations "baseless" and urging Islamabad to focus on its own terror infrastructure.
