Rabat — Pakistan carried out airstrikes alongside its border with Afghanistan late Saturday evening, saying it focused armed teams.
Afghan authorities stated 18 civilians from the identical household have been killed when one home was destroyed. A number of others have been injured, together with youngsters.
Pakistan’s Info Ministry stated the army struck seven websites linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), referred to as the Pakistani Taliban.
In an announcement posted on X by Info Minister Attaullah Tarar, the federal government stated a bunch affiliated with the Islamic State was additionally focused. The areas of the strikes weren’t made public.
Native police within the border space stated the bombing began round midnight and hit three districts in a distant mountainous area.
“The home was destroyed. My father and my sons have been there. They’re all gone,” stated Bezakat, a 35-year-old farmer, talking to AFP. Neighbors rushed to assist rescue survivors and get well our bodies from the rubble.
Afghanistan’s Protection Ministry stated it will give an “applicable and calculated response,” elevating fears of latest combating between the 2 international locations.
Pakistan stated the strikes adopted a number of current assaults on its soil, together with a February 6 suicide bombing in a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that killed 40 folks.
The assault was claimed by the Islamic State group. It was the deadliest assault within the capital because the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Lodge Islamabad, which killed 60 folks.
Pakistan has lengthy accused Afghanistan of permitting militants to function from its territory. Afghan officers deny this.
Relations between the 2 neighbors have worsened because the Taliban returned to energy in Kabul in 2021.
Probably the most severe clashes in October left dozens lifeless. Since mid-October, the primary land border crossing has largely remained closed, hurting commerce and separating households who dwell on either side.
A February 8 report by the UN mission in Afghanistan stated 70 civilians have been killed and 478 wounded within the first three months of 2025 in incidents blamed on Pakistani forces.
The report stated civilian casualties from cross-border clashes between October and December 2025 have been larger than in any full 12 months since 2011.
