New Pakistani Strikes on Afghanistan: Taliban Reports Dozens of Civilian Casualties as Islamabad Says Militants Were Targeted

New Pakistani Strikes on Afghanistan: Taliban Reports Dozens of Civilian Casualties as Islamabad Says Militants Were Targeted
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Border tensions between Pakistan and Taliban-administered Afghanistan have intensified, with fresh strikes from Pakistani military allegedly targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban positions amid claims by Taliban that civilians have been targeted.

The Taliban said the Pakistani army carried out new attacks late Sunday on border areas in three eastern Afghan provinces, claiming the strikes killed and wounded dozens of civilians, including women and children. Islamabad, meanwhile, said the operations targeted positions belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on X that Pakistani forces bombed residential areas in the Giyan district of Paktika province, Chamkani, and the Munawara area of Kunar province. He said the attacks caused dozens of civilian casualties.

Mujahid described the strikes as a “crime and barbaric act,” condemning the targeting of residential areas and holding Pakistan responsible for the human losses.

In response, Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, confirmed the strikes, saying they were part of operations targeting members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. He said the operations followed a series of recent attacks in Pakistan that targeted civilians and security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Karachi.

Tarar said the operation killed a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan commander known as “Khan Farosh,” also called “Zabal,” along with three Jamaat-ul-Ahrar members. He added that several other militants were wounded in the Bajaur area.

He said Pakistani forces targeted three sites in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces as part of “Operation Ghazwat al-Haq,” killing 25 militants and destroying large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at the sites.

The developments come amid continuing security tensions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, with both sides exchanging accusations over the activities of armed groups and the escalation of military operations in border regions.