Pakistan launches deadly air strikes on Afghanistan

Pakistan has conducted further air strikes on Afghanistan, killing nine civilians and injuring 11 others, the Taliban government said.

Islamabad’s information ministry confirmed the strikes, which it said killed twenty-two militants.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman of the Afghan Taliban, said the strikes hit homes in the Kunar and Helmand provinces bordering Pakistan. Women and children are among the dead, he said in an X post.

“We condemn this act as an aggression and crime in violation of all accepted principles,” he said.

Pakistan had very different claims, saying that the “well-planned and calibrated” attack targeted “terrorist camps” in Afghanistan, where large quantities of weapons and ammunition were stored.

Maximum precautions were taken to ensure no collateral damage occurred, Pakistan’s information ministry said.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of harbouring militant groups that carry out and plan attacks on it from inside Afghanistan’s territory.

The Afghan Taliban deny it, saying Pakistan’s militancy is an internal problem, but it has led to a significant deterioration in the relationship between the two neighbours.

Fighting between the allies-turned-foes escalated dramatically in February this year, with Pakistan declaring that it’s in an “open war” with Afghanistan after a surge in deadly clashes and cross-border airstrikes.

Talks mediated by China established a fragile ceasefire in March.

Last month, a deadly attack on a police facility in north-west Pakistan, which killed 24 people, rekindled tensions between the two countries.

Last week, Pakistan launched air strikes in Afghanistan which hit Kandahar, the Taliban’s base of power, among other provinces. This earlier attack killed four civilians, according to the Afghan Taliban government.