Pakistan Conducts Deadly Overnight Airstrikes in Afghanistan

Pakistani airstrikes hit parts of eastern and southern Afghanistan overnight Thursday, killing at least nine people, according to Afghan Taliban officials. Pakistan said its forces struck militant hideouts in two locations, killing 22 fighters and destroying stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes targeted Shultan district in Kunar province and Garmser district in Helmand province. He said the attacks destroyed three houses and killed nine civilians, including women and children, while wounding 11 other people. Mujahid denounced the action as an act of aggression and a violation of international principles.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry said the military carried out intelligence-driven attacks against armed groups operating near the border. The ministry said the strikes were well planned and executed with precision. It said forces took precautions to avoid civilian casualties and confirmed the destruction of camps housing militants.

The operation follows a rise in cross-border violence after three months of relative calm. Relations soured further after a militant attack on a northwestern Pakistani police facility killed 24 people last month. Islamabad has conducted multiple strikes inside Afghanistan since mid-September, asserting that it has hit camps used by the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing militants to stage attacks inside Pakistan from Afghan soil. Kabul denies the charge and says Pakistan must address its own domestic security challenges.

The latest strikes also follow clashes earlier in the week in Afghanistan’s northeastern Nuristan province. Afghan officials said their forces killed dozens of fighters who crossed from Pakistan. Islamabad rejected accusations of supporting those fighters. Neither government has announced plans for diplomatic talks to de-escalate the border dispute.