Pakistan Strikes Afghanistan Again, 36 Killed

Pakistan has launched a series of airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan, targeting what it claims are militants responsible for a deadly weekend attack in Karachi. Afghan authorities, under Taliban rule, announced that the latest strikes resulted in dozens of civilian casualties and left more than 100 people injured. This marks the latest escalation of violence between the neighbouring countries, which have been at odds since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. A bloody armed conflict between the two sides occurred as recently as February.

Deputy Taliban government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat stated that the barrage of Pakistani military strikes hit three provinces in eastern Afghanistan. “The attacks launched last night led to the martyrdom of 36 civilians, including women and children, while 163 others were injured,” Fitrat said in a statement on social media platform X on Monday (29/6). He noted that when local residents gathered to conduct rescue efforts, the area was bombed a second time, referring to Paktia province, one of the regions hit.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes targeted militant groups accused of carrying out a deadly attack in Karachi over the weekend. Kabul has repeatedly denied that its territory serves as a sanctuary for militants. Tarar claimed the latest air strikes killed 25 militants inside Afghanistan. He added that the military operation also included a ground operation along the border area, targeting the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction, a splinter group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which resulted in the deaths of four additional militants. “Three targets in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar were destroyed in precision strikes,” Tarar said in his statement.

The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire in March following weeks of armed conflict in late February, which the United Nations reported had killed hundreds. However, sporadic attacks have continued since then. Mediation efforts by various countries, including China, have failed to produce a permanent resolution between the two sides, and the majority of their border crossings remain closed. Pakistan has recently been busy acting as a mediator to end the conflict between the United States and Iran, but Islamabad insists that its domestic counter-militancy operations necessitate strikes into Afghan territory.