Overnight airstrikes by Pakistani forces resulted in the deaths of at least 36 civilians and injuries to over 160 others, as reported by Afghan officials on Monday. This event has further intensified the strained relationship between the neighboring countries.
The Pakistani forces conducted a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late Sunday. This was followed by airstrikes targeting militant hideouts, which led to the deaths of 29 fighters according to Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar. The operations were a response to multiple militant attacks across Pakistan.
“Afghanistan condemned the strikes as a ‘cowardly act of aggression’ and an ‘act of brutality.'”
Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, reported that Pakistani forces targeted a home in the Chamkani district, Paktia province, resulting in the deaths of an elderly man and a child. Additional family members were also injured. When locals gathered for rescue efforts, another strike killed 28 villagers and injured 158.
In Giyan district, Paktika province, an attack on a village home resulted in six deaths, mostly women and children, according to Fitrat. Another civilian home in Kunar province was hit, causing no casualties but killing about 30 livestock.
Militant attacks on Pakistan’s police and security forces have increased in recent years. These attacks are often attributed to the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), along with allied militant groups. The Pakistani Taliban operate independently but are allied with the Afghan Taliban, who regained power in 2021.
The Pakistani security response followed a militant assault in Karachi targeting the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers. This attack claimed the lives of three soldiers, with security forces subsequently killing three attackers and arresting another, identified as an Afghan national.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction that broke away from the Pakistani Taliban, took responsibility for the Karachi attack. Damage from the Pakistani airstrike was observed in a village in the Tsamkani district of Afghanistan.
These recent cross-border strikes occurred less than three weeks following Pakistan’s military airstrikes on claimed militant hideouts in Afghanistan. This ended a brief period of relative calm after what Pakistan referred to as an ‘open war’ with Afghanistan, even amid international peace efforts.
This ongoing escalation comes after months of reciprocal military actions. Since February, hundreds have died in cross-border confrontations following Afghanistan’s retaliatory strikes for prior Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghan territory.
Several negotiation attempts have unsuccessfully aimed at establishing a lasting ceasefire. China hosted discussions in April, and later announced an agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan to refrain from further escalating the conflict while exploring a resolution.
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