At least 20 Afghan civilians killed in Pakistan airstrikes along border

Kathmandu: Tensions have escalated between Afghanistan and Pakistan after Pakistan conducted airstrikes on “seven terrorist bases and camps” along the border, resulting in dozens of civilian casualties in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar and southeastern Paktika provinces. Reports indicate that 20 people were killed in an attack on a house in Nangarhar, while another airstrike targeted a madrasa in Paktika province.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stated that the operation was intelligence-based and aimed at “terrorist hideouts” in the border region. The ministry claimed the strikes targeted locations affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), its affiliates, and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), in response to their involvement in recent suicide attacks in Pakistan.

Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban government to take strict action against these groups but has accused them of failing to act effectively.

The Afghan Taliban government, however, condemned the strikes, noting that civilians, including women and children, were killed, and stated that it would respond at an appropriate time.