Taliban on Monday said that new shelling by Pakistan in the eastern province of Kunar has left at least three civilians dead and 14 others wounded, most of them women and children.
In a statement, Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the strikes targeted areas near the border in Dangam district, hitting civilian homes as well as public facilities, including schools, a health center and mosques.
He said two schools — one for boys and one for girls — were destroyed, along with a clinic and two mosques. He also said 80 livestock animals were perished.
Pakistani officials have not commented on Taliban remarks.
The reported strikes come amid heightened tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan that have escalated since late February, when cross-border exchanges intensified along frontier areas. Both sides have accused each other of harboring militants and violating territorial sovereignty.
Pakistan has repeatedly said that armed groups operating from Afghanistan’s territory have carried out attacks inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban deny. Taliban officials, in turn, have accused Pakistani forces of conducting artillery shelling and airstrikes in border regions, resulting in civilian casualties and displacement.
The two sides held a new round of talks earlier in April in China. However, the week-long talks could not end the tensions between the two sides.
UN figures show that more than 70 people were killed in the first two weeks of border clashes in eastern Afghanistan. Moreover, in another deadly incident, according to UN figures, 269 people were killed when Pakistan airstrike targeted a rehabilitation center in the east of Kabul on March 16.
