Pakistan launched airstrikes and deployed ground forces into several Afghan border provinces on Sunday, triggering a sharp escalation in tensions between the neighboring countries.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government said at least 36 civilians, including women and children, were killed and more than 160 others injured in the attacks. The Taliban condemned the operation as a “cowardly act” and described it as “a crime and atrocity.”
Pakistan, however, said the strikes were aimed at militant hideouts. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that 29 militants were killed during the operation, describing it as a response to recent terrorist attacks against innocent civilians inside Pakistan.
The two countries have exchanged accusations for years over cross-border militancy. Pakistan has repeatedly alleged that Afghanistan shelters militant groups responsible for attacks on its territory, claims the Taliban government has consistently denied. Kabul, meanwhile, has accused Pakistan of carrying out indiscriminate attacks that have resulted in civilian casualties.
According to Afghan officials, the strikes targeted civilian homes in the provinces of Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar, with the highest number of casualties reported in Mandokhail village in Paktika Province. Pakistan insists the strikes were directed only at militant strongholds.
The latest violence came just one day after a suicide attack on the headquarters of Pakistan’s Sindh Rangers in Karachi killed three paramilitary personnel. Pakistani authorities said three attackers were also killed, while a fourth suspect—an Afghan national—was arrested. The banned militant group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack.
Despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October last year after weeks of deadly clashes, hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan have continued. Border skirmishes and airstrikes have repeatedly claimed lives on both sides in recent months.
The casualty figures released by both governments have not been independently verified. Investigations into the latest cross-border operation are ongoing, as fears grow over further deterioration in security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.