KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan’s airstrikes in Paktika province, eastern Afghanistan, have killed 46 people, including women and children, and wounded six others, according to the Taliban spokesperson.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the strikes hit four locations in Paktika’s Barmal district on Tuesday evening, December 24.
Pakistani officials have not yet commented on these strikes. However, local sources told KabulNow that the strikes targeted the hideouts of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, in the region.
The Associated Press (AP), citing Pakistani security personnel, also reported that the strikes targeted multiple suspected TTP hideouts, dismantled its training facility, and killed some insurgents.
Hours after the overnight airstrike, the Taliban Ministry of Defense condemned it as a “clear act of aggression,” saying that it “will not go unanswered.”
In a statement posted on X, the Taliban Ministry of Defense claimed that the Pakistani airstrikes targeted civilians, mostly Waziristani refugees, and resulted in the deaths of civilians, including children.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [Taliban] considers this brutal bombing a violation of international principles and a clear act of aggression,” the ministry said.
“The Islamic Emirate will not let this act of cowardice go unanswered. Rather, it considers defending its territory and soil an inalienable right.” the ministry warned.
The airstrikes, the second of their kind this year, occurred hours after Pakistan’s high-level delegation, led by the country’s newly appointed special envoy for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq, met with senior Taliban authorities in Kabul.
After his meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Pakistani envoy wrote on X that they “agreed to work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation and promote peace and progress in the region.”
Relations between Islamabad and the Taliban have become strained in recent years, mainly due to the TTP, a militant group that has escalated its attacks on the Pakistani military and civilians since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring TTP leaders and fighters, providing them with training and weapons to carry out cross-border attacks and destabilize the region. The Taliban has repeatedly denied these allegations in the past.
Pakistan’s latest airstrikes were condemned by Afghan political figures and former government officials, including former president Hamid Karzai, who called them a “blatant violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.”
Rahmtullah Nabil, former chief of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, criticized the Taliban’s ability to respond to Pakistani strikes, saying, “The Taliban not only lack the ability to protect Afghanistan’s territorial integrity but are also a threat to the country’s national security.”
