KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least three civilians were killed and 14 others wounded, many of them women and children, in the latest Pakistani military strikes on Afghanistan’s Dangam district in Kunar province on Monday, Taliban authorities reported.
Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said the strikes targeted border areas, damaging civilian homes as well as public infrastructure. According to Fitrat, two schools, two mosques, and one health facility were destroyed, while 80 livestock animals were killed.
Pakistani officials have not commented on the latest reported strikes.
The incident comes amid persistent cross-border tensions that have escalated since late February, with repeated rocket fire, artillery shelling, and airstrikes along the mountainous frontier. Kunar province, which borders Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, has been among the areas most frequently targeted.
Last week, Pakistani strikes on Kunar University and several districts, including Dangam, killed at least seven people and injured more than 90, according to Taliban reports. In response, the Taliban summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Kabul and lodged a formal protest.
Pakistan has defended its actions as necessary responses to attacks originating from Afghan territory. Its Foreign Ministry has previously stated that operations target hideouts of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, and alleged “Indian proxy forces” using Afghan soil as a base.
The United Nations has verified 289 civilian casualties from Pakistani strikes between late February and mid-March, including 76 killed. Taliban authorities have reported significantly higher numbers.
The repeated strikes have triggered widespread displacement in border communities and caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, including educational institutions and medical facilities, complicating access to essential services in an already fragile region.
International actors, including China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, have urged both sides to exercise restraint and pursue dialogue to de-escalate the situation. However, Pakistan has said it will press ahead with its “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq,” aimed at neutralizing TTP bases along the porous border.
