Pakistani airstrikes kill nine in Afghanistan: Taliban

Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan hit three houses on Thursday, killing nine people, the Afghan Taliban government said, while Islamabad said the strikes killed 22 “terrorists” after targeting their hideouts, amid an escalation in fighting between the neighbors after three months of relative calm.

Those killed in the strikes on Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces included women and children, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on social media website X, adding that 11 people were also injured.

“We condemn this act as an aggression and crime in violation of all accepted principles,” he said.

Pakistan’s information ministry, however, said the strikes were based on “credible intelligence” and targeted terrorist hideouts at two locations.

“Targets were destroyed with precision and initial reports suggest killing of twenty two terrorists,” the ministry said in a statement on X.

“Large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at these hideouts was also destroyed,” it said.

Reuters could not independently verify the information.

A militant attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan last month, which killed 24 people, rekindled tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, who engaged in their worst fighting in years in February.

The allies-turned-foes have increasingly been at odds over militancy, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harboring militants who stage cross-border attacks.

The Taliban government denies the charge and says militancy is Pakistan’s internal problem.

Islamabad has conducted multiple airstrikes on Afghanistan over the last fortnight, which it said hit terror camps and killed militants.

Kabul has maintained the strikes killed civilians.

Afghanistan’s defense ministry on Sunday said its forces had killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 after a group it said included ISIS militants crossed from Pakistan.

Islamabad had rejected the allegations.