Pakistan Strikes Afghanistan Overnight, Claims 22 Militants Killed

Pakistan said it killed 22 militants in airstrikes targeting alleged Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts in Afghanistan on Thursday, while the Taliban government in Kabul said nine Afghan civilians, including women and children, were killed and 11 others injured in the attacks.

The overnight strikes hit Kunar and Helmand provinces, with Afghan authorities saying three houses were destroyed. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani aircraft struck civilian homes in Chugam in Kunar’s Shultan district and Safar in Helmand’s Garmser district. He condemned the attacks as “an aggression and crime in violation of all accepted principles”.

Local officials in Helmand said the strikes took place at around 3:30 am in three locations in the Safar area. Afghan reports said two houses and an Eid prayer ground were hit.

Pakistan's Information Ministry gave a contrasting account, saying its forces carried out “well-planned and calibrated aerial strikes” against terrorist hideouts at two locations based on credible intelligence. It said 22 terrorists were killed and large quantities of weapons and ammunition were destroyed. Islamabad maintained that the targets were militant facilities and that the operation was conducted with precision.

The competing casualty claims have not been independently verified. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban administration of allowing the TTP and other armed groups to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the allegations and says militancy is Pakistan’s internal problem.

The latest strikes follow a sharp deterioration in ties after nearly three months of relative calm. Tensions escalated last month after a militant attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan killed 24 people, including 15 police officials. Pakistan subsequently carried out several rounds of airstrikes inside Afghanistan.

The two countries had reached a Chinese-mediated ceasefire in March, which brought an earlier round of fighting to an end but did not resolve their dispute over militant activity along their 2,600-km border. Afghanistan has also recently claimed that its forces killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 after an alleged cross-border incursion, a claim Islamabad rejected.

The United Nations said last week it had documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries from cross-border violence in Afghanistan this year, highlighting the growing humanitarian impact of the confrontation.