KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least four members of a family, including a woman and two children, were killed and three others injured when Pakistani military artillery and mortar shells hit border areas in eastern Khost province early on Thursday, Taliban authorities said.
In a statement posted on X, Hamdullah Fetrat, Taliban’s deputy spokesperson, said that the attack took place at around 4:00 a.m. local time in the Alisher-Terezai district of Khost Province.
Fetrat said the attack targeted homes of local residents as well as tents belonging to nomadic families living in the area near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Fetrat also said Pakistani forces fired dozens of shells into several districts of neighboring Kunar province during the night. While no casualties were reported in those areas, the shelling damaged houses and other private property in multiple villages.
Clashes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border began about two weeks ago and have continued intermittently, with Pakistani airstrikes targeting locations in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Both sides have reported different figures on military casualties inflicted on each other, and independent verification has not been possible. The United Nations, however, has confirmed civilian casualties linked to the fighting.
In its latest update, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented at least 185 civilian casualties, including 56 deaths and 129 injuries, with women and children accounting for 55% of those affected.
Aid group Save the Children reported that the fighting has forced at least 68,000 children to flee their homes in eastern Afghanistan, leaving many without reliable access to food, clean water, healthcare, and shelter.
Calls for a halt to the fighting from regional countries, including China, Russia and Turkey, as well as the United Nations and humanitarian groups, have not yet ended the violence.
