Pakistan strikes Afghanistan, Kabul vows to respond
Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan on Monday, an operation that Islamabad claims targeted three sites linked to armed groups. The Pakistani government asserts that 28 militants and suicide bombers were killed. In Kabul, Taliban authorities report three civilian deaths and four injuries, promising a response.
The Pakistani Ministry of Information and Broadcasting describes the strikes as a follow-up to an intelligence operation conducted around Kohat, Hangu, and Thal in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. According to Islamabad, the bombings targeted camps and hideouts, including a training center for suicide bombers, as well as stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.
Afghan authorities provide a different account. Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat claims that a house was hit in Kunar province, killing three members of the same family and injuring four others. Two sites were also reportedly struck in the Barmal district of Paktika province, where an empty house and a shop were destroyed, with no casualties reported.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has confirmed the deaths of three civilians: a man, a woman, and a girl. This confirmation contradicts the Pakistani assertion that the strikes caused no collateral damage.
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Pakistani chargé d’affaires in Kabul and delivered a note of protest. Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that Afghanistan “will respond appropriately to this aggression.”
The strikes come after a series of deadly attacks in Pakistan. On Friday, an attack on a police complex in Kohat left at least 24 dead. On Sunday, a new exchange of gunfire in the neighboring district of Hangu resulted in the deaths of six Pakistani soldiers and eight militants, according to the Pakistani military.
Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban authorities for several years of harboring fighters who cross the border to carry out attacks in Pakistan, including members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Kabul rejects this accusation, asserting that the Pakistani insurgency is an internal issue.
Monday’s strikes break nearly three months of relative calm between the two neighbors. The Pakistani Ministry of Information stated that its counter-terrorism campaign, dubbed “Ghazab lil Haq,” will continue as part of the Azm-e-Istehkam program.
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