Afghan authorities have accused Pakistan of carrying out overnight airstrikes in southeastern Khost province, killing nine children and a woman after a civilian home was hit. The incident threatens to inflame already tense relations between the neighbouring nations.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the strike took place around midnight in the Gurbuz district, destroying the home of a local resident, Waliat Khan. “Five boys, four girls, and a woman were martyred after Pakistani forces bombed a civilian house,” Mujahid said in a post on X. He added that additional strikes in Kunar and Paktika provinces injured at least four more civilians.
Pakistan has not yet issued a statement on the alleged attack.
Mujahid later warned that Afghanistan would “respond appropriately at the right time,” condemning the strikes as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. “Defending our airspace, territory, and people is our legitimate right,” he said.
The alleged bombardment comes a day after a suicide bombing on Pakistan’s paramilitary Federal Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar, claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Pakistan Taliban (TTP). Pakistan’s state media reported the attackers were Afghan nationals, while President Asif Ali Zardari blamed “foreign-backed” TTP fighters operating from Afghan territory.
Pakistan has recently faced a series of deadly attacks, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad earlier this month that killed at least 12 people. Islamabad accuses the Taliban of sheltering TTP militants—an allegation Kabul denies, insisting Pakistan harbours groups threatening Afghanistan’s security.
Relations between the two countries have sharply deteriorated since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Tensions spiked again after deadly border clashes in October that killed around 70 people on both sides, prompting a Qatar- and Turkiye-brokered ceasefire. However, talks in Istanbul failed to secure a durable agreement as security concerns—especially Pakistan’s demand that Kabul control TTP fighters—remained unresolved.
