Pakistan Strikes TTP Targets In Afghanistan, Taliban Says 3 Civilians Killed

Pakistan carried out airstrikes on suspected Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targets in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, claiming 28 terrorists were killed, while the Taliban said three civilians died and four were injured in the attacks. The strikes in Kunar and Paktika provinces mark a fresh escalation between Islamabad and Kabul after a series of deadly militant attacks and months of tensions along their border.

Pakistan said its fighter jets targeted militant camps and hideouts in Afghanistan. Pakistani authorities claimed 28 terrorists were killed in the strikes, according to The Associated Press. Islamabad has increasingly carried out attacks inside Afghanistan, accusing the TTP of using Afghan territory to plan and launch attacks against Pakistan.

The Taliban gave a sharply different account. Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said Pakistani aircraft struck civilian areas in Kunar and Paktika during the early hours of Monday and warned that Afghanistan would retaliate.

Mujahid said a woman and two men were killed in Kunar, while two women and two men were injured. He said the victims were local civilians. In Paktika, he said a house and a shop were hit but there were no reported casualties.

Taliban Deputy Spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistani aircraft struck at around 3 am, targeting civilian homes and public property in Nurgal district of Kunar and Bermal district of Paktika. He said the house of Noor Ahmad in Patan village, Nurgal, was destroyed, killing three members of his family and injuring four others. A shop and an empty house were also reportedly destroyed in Rakha and Tor Kanday areas of Bermal.

The Pakistani claim of 28 militant deaths and the Taliban's account of civilian casualties could not be independently verified.

The strikes came two days after a deadly blast in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed 21 people, including 15 police personnel. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but Pakistani authorities blamed the TTP.

The TTP is a separate organisation from Afghanistan's Taliban but has longstanding ties with the Afghan Taliban. Islamabad says TTP fighters maintain bases and safe havens in Afghanistan, an allegation Kabul has repeatedly rejected.

Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have deteriorated sharply as the TTP has intensified attacks inside Pakistan. The two sides have also fought several rounds of border clashes that have killed hundreds, while mediation efforts by regional countries have produced temporary ceasefires without resolving the underlying dispute.

Monday's strikes threaten to trigger another round of cross-border hostilities. They also complicate efforts by countries including China to mediate between Islamabad and Kabul, as the Taliban has now warned of retaliation following the latest Pakistani military action.