KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistani airstrikes hit Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces on Wednesday night, killing at least nine civilians, including women and children, and wounding 11 others, Taliban authorities said, while Pakistan said the strikes targeted militant hideouts and killed 22 militants.
Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X that the strikes targeted civilian homes in the Chugam and Shultan districts of Kunar and the Safar and Carmser districts of Helmand, destroying three houses.
“We condemn this act as an aggression and crime in violation of all accepted principles,” Mujahid said.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting confirmed the “well planned and calibrated aerial strikes,” saying they targeted the hideouts and safe havens of terrorist organizations. “Based on credible intelligence, selective targeting of Terrorist camps and hideouts at two locations belonging to Fitna al khwarij, Fitna al Hindustan and their affiliates has been carried out in Afghanistan with precision and accuracy,” the ministry said.
“Targets were destroyed with precision and initial reports suggest the killing of 22 terrorists. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at these hideouts were also destroyed,” it added.
The ministry said it was a matter of “grave concern” that Afghanistan continue to be a hub of terrorism and that threats to Pakistan emanated from Afghan territory. It said Pakistan would continue efforts to eliminate what it described as foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism.
The strikes follow repeated Pakistani operations in Afghanistan’s eastern and southern provinces bordering Pakistan. A week earlier, Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes in Kandahar, Kunar and Paktia. Earlier last week, airstrikes hit Kunar and Paktika. The Taliban said those strikes also hit civilian areas and killed civilians; Pakistan said they targeted militant hideouts and killed dozens of fighters.
Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The sides engaged in their worst clashes in recent months after Pakistan declared itself in an “open war” with Afghanistan amid a surge in militant attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries resulting from cross-border armed violence in Afghanistan so far in 2026. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering groups that launch attacks inside Pakistan, particularly the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch separatists. The Taliban rejects the claims, saying militancy in Pakistan is an internal matter.
Despite mediation efforts by countries including China, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the two sides have yet to reach an agreement to end the hostilities.
