The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Kabul to protest airstrikes in three eastern provinces that they said killed dozens of civilians.
In a statement, the ministry said it had delivered a “strong and unequivocal protest” over called Pakistan’s “violation of Afghan airspace” and the bombing of civilian homes in Kunar, Paktia and Paktika provinces.
The ministry said the strikes killed 36 civilians, including women and children, and wounded 163 others.
It described the attacks as a clear violation of international law, humanitarian principles and Afghanistan’s national sovereignty.
The latest statement follows the Taliban’s earlier claim that the deadliest attack occurred in Mandokhail village in Samkanai district of Paktia province, where they said Pakistani aircraft struck a residential house before bombing the area a second time as residents gathered to rescue survivors. The Taliban said 28 people were killed and 158 wounded in that attack alone.
They also said six civilians, most of them women and children, were killed in Gayan district of Paktika, while a house was destroyed in Manogai district of Kunar without causing casualties.
Pakistan has rejected remarks that it targeted civilians.
In a statement issued Monday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were carried out under Operation Ghazab-ul-Haq and targeted hideouts used by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
Tarar said Pakistani forces killed 25 militants, destroyed three militant sites and seized or destroyed weapons and ammunition. He said the operation was launched in response to recent attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh, including an assault on a Pakistan Rangers installation in Karachi that Islamabad blamed on the TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry accused Pakistan of repeatedly blaming “Afghanistan” for security incidents inside Pakistan without presenting credible evidence.
“For years, Pakistan has sought to shift responsibility for its security and political failures onto Afghanistan through baseless accusations and repeated military aggression,” the ministry said, warning that such actions undermine trust, good-neighborly relations and regional stability.
The strikes marked Pakistan’s second cross-border operation inside Afghanistan this month.
On June 11, Pakistani aircraft struck Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) later confirmed that 13 civilians were killed in those attacks, although Pakistan said it had targeted militant hideouts linked to attacks inside its territory.
Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan have deteriorated sharply in recent years over border disputes, cross-border militancy and mutual accusations of harboring armed groups. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of allowing the TTP to operate from Afghan territory, an allegation the Taliban deny, insisting they do not permit any group to use Afghanistan to threaten neighboring countries.
