Pakistan’s Late-Night Airstrikes in Afghanistan Kill 15, Including Women and Children; Taliban Decries ‘Brutal Aggression’
At least 15 people, including women and children, were killed in late-night airstrikes carried out by Pakistan in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on Tuesday, targeting suspected terror hubs, according to security officials. The strikes, which Pakistan claimed were aimed at members of the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have drawn sharp condemnation from Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which labeled the action a “brutal act” and warned of retaliation.
The strikes occurred in a mountainous area near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and reportedly targeted seven villages, with one of them entirely destroyed, Afghan media sources reported. The Taliban’s Defense Ministry stated that the majority of those killed were refugees from Pakistan’s Waziristan region who had fled ongoing violence.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers this a brutal act against all international principles and blatant aggression,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. It emphasized that the victims were civilians and condemned the airstrikes as a “cowardly act.” The ministry added that Pakistan’s unilateral actions were not a solution to bilateral tensions and asserted Afghanistan’s right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Pakistan has long accused the TTP of using Afghan soil to launch attacks across the border, a claim Afghanistan has repeatedly denied. The airstrikes came just hours after Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, held discussions with the Taliban leadership in Kabul aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.
Tensions between the two nations have escalated in recent months, with Pakistan growing increasingly vocal about cross-border insurgent activities. However, the Taliban insists that no such attacks are being orchestrated from Afghan territory. This latest development threatens to further strain relations between the two neighboring countries, raising concerns of potential retaliatory actions by the Taliban.