Escalation on the Frontier Pakistani Airstrikes Kill Civilians in Afghanistan Border Provinces, Officials Say
Khost-Pakistani airstrikes across the border into Afghanistan killed at least 12 civilians, including children and a woman, in Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces late Tuesday night, Afghan officials said on Wednesday, marking the deadliest cross-border escalation in recent weeks amid already strained relations between the two neighbors.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces “once again violated Afghanistan’s airspace” and struck civilian homes in multiple eastern provinces, including Kunar, Khost and Paktika. He said 11 children, one woman and one elderly man were among the dead, calling the strikes a breach of sovereignty.
An official in Khost province, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that a house in Spera district was hit, killing nine people and injuring 10 others. In a separate incident in Paktika province’s Barmal district, two residents said another strike killed three civilians, all of them children, after a residential home was targeted.
Neither the government of Pakistan nor its military immediately responded to requests for comment. However, Islamabad has repeatedly stated in the past that such operations target militants responsible for attacks inside its territory and are not directed at civilians.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have remained tense since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, with security disputes dominating bilateral ties. Islamabad has accused the Taliban authorities of allowing militants, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan soil, a charge Kabul has consistently rejected.
The latest strikes come after a brief period of relative calm along the border following months of heightened violence earlier this year, which included cross-border fighting and air operations. A United Nations report cited by AFP previously estimated hundreds of Afghan civilian casualties during earlier phases of the conflict in 2026.
The Pakistan-Afghanistan border has also seen prolonged closures and disruptions to trade following repeated flare-ups in violence, further straining economic and diplomatic engagement between the two countries.
