KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Local Taliban authorities in eastern Kunar province accused Pakistan of violating the temporary ceasefire announced a day earlier, claiming attacks have continued in the province since Wednesday night.
Local sources in the province also reported that a female health worker and her son were killed, and her husband, another son, and their driver were injured when their vehicle was attacked by Pakistani forces on Thursday.
According to the sources, the attack took place on a road in Nari district. The health worker, who worked at a health center in Kamdish district of neighboring Nuristan province, was returning home to Kunar during the Eid holiday, taking advantage of the ceasefire.
Pakistani officials and Taliban authorities have not commented on this incident.
However, Taliban authorities confirmed that Pakistan had continued strikes on Kunar since Wednesday night, accusing Islamabad of breaching the temporary Eid truce announced at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar. The Taliban had previously warned it would respond to any violations.
Pakistan and the Taliban, once allies, have clashed repeatedly along the border in recent months, including airstrikes and cross-border fire, after Islamabad accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering members of the Pakistani Taliban, responsible for deadly attacks inside Pakistan.
The latest wave of fighting, which began in late February, lasted nearly three weeks and caused hundreds of casualties, including civilians. UN figures indicate at least 289 civilians were killed or injured in Pakistani airstrikes across several provinces during that period.
On Monday, a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul, killing at least 143 people according to the UN. The Taliban says 400 were killed and 250 were injured. UN agencies and human rights groups have called for an independent and impartial investigation.
