The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Thursday that Pakistan airstrikes carried out in eastern Afghanistan killed 13 civilians and wounded 10 others, most of them women and children, marking the latest escalation in tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban.
In a statement, UNAMA said the casualties have been occurred in airstrikes conducted during the night of June 9-10 in the provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika.
This comes a day after Pakistan confirmed carrying out cross-border airstrikes targeting what it described as militant hideouts and safe havens along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the operation targeted members of Fitna al-Khwarij — a term Pakistani authorities use for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants — and claimed that 26 militants were killed.
According to Tarar, four targets were destroyed, including a training center, a hideout, an ammunition cache and facilities allegedly linked to militant commanders Aleem Khan Khushali and Akhtar Muhammad Jani Khel.
Taliban, meanwhile, said Pakistan has targeted civilian homes. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said earlier that at least 13 civilians had been killed in the strikes, including 11 children, one woman and one elderly man. He also said 14 others were wounded and condemned the attacks as a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.
The strikes occurred amid renewed friction between Islamabad and the Taliban administration over cross-border militancy. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of allowing TTP fighters to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan. Taliban have consistently denied the allegations, saying Afghanistan’s soil is not being used against other countries.
The latest operation followed several deadly attacks inside Pakistan, including assaults on security forces in North Waziristan and Musa Dara, which Pakistani officials cited as the reason for the strikes.
Relations between the two sides have deteriorated sharply this year. A recent report by UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Taliban-Pakistan hostilities caused 764 civilian casualties between late January and the end of March, including 372 deaths and 392 injuries.
The UN also documented large-scale displacement linked to the fighting and warned that continued military escalation risks worsening humanitarian conditions in border areas.
In its statement, UNAMA reiterated its call for de-escalation, a durable ceasefire and the protection of civilians. The mission also urged the reopening of border crossings, particularly for humanitarian assistance, and called on both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.
The airstrikes were the first publicly confirmed cross-border attacks of their kind since the major escalation in hostilities earlier this year, raising concerns that violence between Pakistan and the Taliban could intensify once again.
