Pakistan Makes 2 Air Strikes Inside Afghanistan, 8 Women & Children Killed, Claims Taliban

Pakistan made two airstrikes in Khost and Paktika provinces inside Afghanistan at around 3:00 am (2230 GMT Sunday).

The air strikes followed the death of seven Pakistani soldiers in a suicide bombing in Pakistan. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari vowed retaliation.

But, the Taliban government claimed that Pakistani aircrafts bombarded civilian homes in Khost and Paktika provinces near the border with Pakistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement said, eight people, all women and children, were killed on Monday in “reckless” air strikes by the Pakistani military in the border regions of Afghanistan.

Pakistan continues to allege that since the Taliban government seized power in 2021, militant groups from Afghanistan are carrying out regular attacks.

The Taliban government strongly condemned the Pakistani air strikes and termed them reckless action and and an attack on Afghanistan’s sovereignty.

Areas along the border have long been a stronghold for militant groups such as Pakistan’s home-grown Taliban group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which operates across the porous border with Afghanistan.