Deadly Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan end a month of calm

Audio By Carbonatix

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Pakistan launched deadly new airstrikes on Afghanistan early Wednesday, ending a month of calm following what Islamabad previously described as “open war” between the neighbors that has defied international efforts to bring a lasting peace.

Afghanistan said the strikes hit the eastern provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika, and government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said 13 people were killed — 11 children, one woman and an older man — with 14 other civilians wounded.

Pakistan confirmed it carried out strikes, saying it targeted militant hideouts and infrastructure linked to recent attacks inside Pakistan and that 26 militants were killed. The two sides often give widely differing casualty figures.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan since February, when Afghanistan attacked Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Several rounds of internationally mediated peace talks have failed to produce a lasting truce.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants who carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. The group is separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan since it seized power in the country in 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies the charge.

In Khost, hundreds of mourners attended the funerals of nine people killed — seven children ranging in age from 3 to 15, a woman and a man. All were from the same family, killed when their house collapsed from the airstrike, relatives said.

Residents knelt to mourn at the open casket of a small child.

One mourner, Talib Gul, said the adults were his uncle and aunt along with their four daughters and three sons.

“In my uncle’s family, only two of his daughters survived. The rest of his entire family was martyred,” Gul said.

He said a second strike hit his brother's house, causing significant damage and killing many livestock that are central to livelihoods there.

In a post on X, Pakistan's information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said strikes were carried out in border areas on "hideouts and safe havens of masterminds and planners" of attacks carried out by the Pakistani Taliban and insurgents in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.

Tarar said four targets were destroyed: a training center, a hideout, an ammunition cache and a facility belonging to militant commanders.

Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign will continue “at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism,” he said.

Pakistan’s information ministry on X dismissed Afghanistan's reports of civilian casualties, asserting that “Afghan Taliban accounts are peddling propaganda.”

Wednesday's strikes came a day after suspected Pakistani Taliban militants attacked a security post in Pakistan's Hasan Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, triggering a gunfight in which six members of the Federal Constabulary were killed and several others wounded, according to Pakistan’s interior ministry.

Local authorities in Pakistan said Tuesday that security forces killed eight of the attackers and thwarted an attempt to overrun the checkpoint.

The situation along the border was calm hours after Wednesday's strikes. Kabul has previously responded to strikes by targeting Pakistani posts along the frontier hours or days later.

Pakistan in February declared it was in open war with Afghanistan, following a surge in militant attacks on its civilians and security forces.

Afghanistan has said a Pakistani airstrike in March hit a drug treatment center in Kabul, killing more than 400 people. Pakistan has disputed the toll and denied targeting civilians, saying it struck an ammunition depot.

Wednesday's strikes come months after China hosted peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Beijing later said they had agreed not to escalate their conflict and to explore a solution.

Authorities in Pakistan have said China and some other friendly countries were still encouraging both sides to reach an agreement for durable peace.

Masood Khan, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said the solution to the tensions lies in enforcing a decree by Afghanistan's Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada ordering the TTP to stop attacks on Pakistan.

“That decree must be implemented sincerely and faithfully,” Khan said.

The border has been closed since October, disrupting trade and transportation and stranding thousands of people.

___

Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.