Escalating Tensions: Pakistani Airstrikes Kill Civilians in Afghanistan
Afg han officials reported that overnight airstrikes by Pakistani forces killed at least 36 civilians and injured over 160 others on Monday. This incident has further escalated tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistani security forces initiated a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late Sunday. This was followed by airstrikes on what they described as militant hideouts. According to Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, these operations resulted in the deaths of 29 fighters. The operations were launched in reaction to a series of militant attacks across Pakistan.
Afghanistan condemned the strikes, labeling them as a “cowardly act of aggression” and an “act of brutality.” Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, reported that Pakistani forces targeted a home in the Chamkani district of Paktia province. An elderly man and a child were killed, while other family members suffered injuries. When locals gathered to assist, the area was struck again, leading to the deaths of 28 villagers and injuries to 158 individuals.
In Giyan district, Paktika province, attacks on another home resulted in the deaths of six people, mostly women and children, Fitrat said. Kunar province saw a civilian home hit, causing no human casualties but resulting in the death of about 30 livestock.
Militant attacks within Pakistan, especially targeting police and security forces, have increased in recent years. The Pakistani Taliban, referred to as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), along with allied militant groups, are blamed by authorities for most of the violence. The Pakistani Taliban allies with the Afghan Taliban, which regained control in Afghanistan in 2021.
The security operation followed an attack on the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi, which killed three soldiers. Pakistani forces killed three attackers and detained another, identified as an Afghan national. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction that split from the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for this attack.
Skeletal remnants of buildings damaged during the Pakistani airstrike were reported in Tsamkani district in Afghanistan. These cross-border operations happened less than three weeks after Pakistan’s military launched airstrikes on other militant hideouts in Afghanistan. This marked the end of a brief period of calm, described by Islamabad as an “open war” between the neighbors, despite international mediation efforts for lasting peace.
This recent escalation follows months of continued military engagements. Since February, cross-border fighting claimed hundreds of lives after Afghanistan retaliated to Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan soil.
Multiple negotiation attempts have been unsuccessful in achieving a lasting ceasefire. China hosted talks between the two countries in April, with hopes of preventing further conflict. Beijing later stated that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to avoid escalating their conflict and would pursue a peaceful resolution.