8 killed after Pakistan launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan, says Kabul

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) — Pakistani military aircraft struck "ordinary" homes in Afghanistan in pre-dawn attacks in two provinces Monday, interim Afghan spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed.

Condemning the attacks, Mujahid said eight people, including three children and five women, were killed due to these aerial strikes in the southeastern Paktika and Khost provinces.

The cross-border aerial strikes were reported at around 3.00 a.m. (2230GMT Sunday), he added.

No official statement has been released by Islamabad on the alleged attacks, which Mujahid called a "reckless violation of Afghanistan's territory."

Mujahid asserted that Afghanistan would "not allow anyone to invade its territory" and called on Pakistan to stop "wrong policies… and spoiling relations of the two neighboring Muslim countries."

Warning that such incidents "can have very bad consequences," he said: "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan does not allow anyone to harm anyone's security by using the territory of Afghanistan." The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is the Taliban's official name.

The alleged airstrikes hit the Laman area in Pakitka and Pasa Mella area in Khost.

They come after at least seven Pakistani troops were killed by militants in North Waziristan's Mir Ali area on Saturday.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to prevent militants from the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomerate of various militant groups, from carrying out attacks in Pakistan before returning to Afghanistan for refuge. Afghanistan has denied the charges.

It was in April 2022 when Pakistan had launched cross-border air strikes against the alleged militants of the banned group.​​​​​​​

"The person named Abdullah Shah, who the Pakistani side claims was targeted in the incident, is in Pakistan," Mujahid claimed.

"The people of Pakistan and the new government should stop some army generals from the continuation of their wrong policies for the benefit of others like the last 20-year and spoiling the relationship between the two neighboring Muslim nations," he added.