Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan: Taliban spokesman claims

KABUL (AFP): Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border province of Afghanistan killed 46 people, the Taliban government spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

“Last night (Tuesday), Pakistan bombarded four points in the Barmal district of Paktika province. The total number of dead is 46, most of whom were children and women,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed.

He added that six more people were wounded.

An Afghan defence ministry statement late Tuesday condemned the strikes by Pakistan and “clear aggression”.

“The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered, but rather considers the defence of its territory and sovereignty to be its inalienable right,” the statement said, using the Taliban authorities’ name for the government.

Deadly air strikes by Pakistan’s military in the border regions of Afghanistan in March that the Taliban authorities claimed killed eight civilians prompted skirmishes on the frontier.

A Barmal resident, Maleel, told AFP Tuesday’s strikes killed 18 members of one family.

“The bombardment hit two or three houses, in one house, 18 people were killed, the whole family lost their lives,” he said.

He said a strike killed three people in another house and wounded several others, who were taken to hospital.

Border tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Taliban government seized power in 2021, with Pakistan battling a resurgence of militant violence in its western border regions.

Islamabad has accused Kabul’s Taliban authorities of harbouring militant fighters, allowing them to strike on Pakistani soil with impunity.

Kabul has denied the allegations.

The strike comes after the Pakistani Taliban – who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and share a common ideology with their Afghan counterparts – last week claimed an attack on an army outpost near the border with Afghanistan, which Pakistani intelligence officials said killed 16 soldiers.

There has been no official comment from Pakistani authorities on the latest strike in Afghan territory.

On Tuesday, the two countries agreed to defuse prevailing tension, strengthen bilateral relations, and promote trade and economic ties between the two immediate neighbours.

Pakistan’s Special Representative, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq dashed to Kabul on a two-day official visit and held meetings with key Afghan ministers and traders. He also met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Tuesday, in Kabul.

Last week, at least one Pakistani soldier was martyred when terrorists attempted to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said then.