Pakistan Conducts Airstrikes in Afghanistan, Resulting in Civilian Casualties

On October 1, 2026, Pakistan launched airstrikes in Afghanistan, reportedly killing at least 10 people, most of whom were children. The United Nations mission in Afghanistan confirmed the casualties following the overnight strikes.

Pakistan described the operations as targeting militants from Pakistani insurgent groups responsible for attacks on its soil. Despite these claims, Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan of aggression, alleging that the strikes damaged civilian homes and killed women and children. The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed the deaths, noting that they could not attribute the strikes directly to Pakistan, but no other nation had taken responsibility for the recent attacks.

The airstrikes hit Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces. Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesperson for the Afghan government, criticized the Pakistani actions, stating that three civilian homes were destroyed.

“This is an aggressive act,” Mujahid stated in his condemnation of the bombings.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information, however, offered a different perspective. The ministry asserted that the strikes were based on reliable intelligence, aiming at militant hideouts and camps. They reported 22 alleged terrorists were killed, along with large amounts of weapons and ammunition destroyed.

A statement from the ministry emphasized the precision targeting to avoid collateral damage and the continuation of such operations to eliminate terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan.

Footage from Helmand province close to the Pakistan border depicted civilians sifting through the aftermath of a destroyed mud-wall house. Ebad Khan, a resident in Kunar province, recounted to CBS News that a family who had relocated recently suffered fatalities, with all six family members, including children, killed in the strike.

The aerial attacks add to the recurrent cross-border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan this year. Both countries have frequently accused each other of harboring terrorist groups near their shared border, facilitating plotting against civilian and military targets.

UNAMA reported that over 1,100 civilian casualties have resulted from such clashes in Afghanistan this year.