Kabul, June 10 (IANS) At least 13 civilians, mostly children, were killed in Pakistani military airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar, Khost, and Paktika provinces, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed on Wednesday.
Condemning the actions by Pakistani forces, Mujahid said that the attack targeting civilian homes took place on Tuesday night, killing 11 children, one woman and an elderly man, while 14 other women and children were injured.
Taking to social media platform X, the Taliban spokespersons said, “Last night, the Pakistani military once again violated Afghanistan’s airspace and bombed civilian homes in the provinces of Kunar, Khost, and Paktika. As a result of these attacks, 11 children, one woman, and one elderly man were killed, while 14 other women and children were injured. We strongly condemn this humanitarian crime and act of aggression.”
This latest incident comes amid escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past few months, with repeated exchanges of fire and growing concerns over civilian casualties. The two nations have accused each other of contributing to instability, while diplomatic and local mediation efforts have remained futile to stop further escalation.
Last month, three people were killed and 14 others injured during the Pakistan army’s strikes on the Dangam district in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, according to the Taliban regime.
A Taliban district official said that two schools, a clinic and two mosques were destroyed in Pakistan’s attack, Afghanistan International reported. However, the officials have not revealed the exact timing of the attacks.
Taliban district governor in Dangam, Mohammad Omar Sadiq, stated that the Pakistani army has lost its ability to attack directly and has started targeting civilian facilities. He added that 80 head of cattle were killed in the strikes. The official said that 12 schools have been destroyed since the start of Pakistan’s attacks on Kunar province.
Earlier on May 12, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)revealed that at least 372 Afghan civilians were killed and 397 injured between January 1 and March 31 this year due to cross-border violence between the Pakistani military and Afghan forces.
The Human Rights Service of the UNAMA documented over 750 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan because of cross-border armed violence between Afghanistan’s “de facto” security forces and the Pakistani military. Most of these civilian casualties occurred as a result of airstrikes in February and March, the report noted.
According to the report, most of these civilian casualties occurred after Pakistan announced the start of Operation Ghazab lil-Haq on February 26, with over half attributed to the March 16 airstrikes by Pakistani military forces impacting the Omid Drug Rehabilitation Hospital in Kabul.
“Among the total civilian casualties were 72 women, 554 men, 48 girls and 95 boys. Up until the March 16 airstrike on the Omid Drug Rehabilitation Centre, women and children made up over half of civilian casualties recorded; however, as the Omid Hospital housed only males, this breakdown changed after the incident,” the UNAMA update on Cross-border civilian casualties (January–March 2026) in Afghanistan stated.
–IANS
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