Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has vowed an appropriate response after Pakistani airstrikes in Kunar and Paktika provinces killed at least three civilians and wounded several others overnight. Government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stated that one woman and two men were killed and four people were wounded in Kunar, while a separate strike in Paktika damaged a house and a shop without causing casualties. Mujahid described the strikes as a repetition of Pakistani crimes against Afghanistan and accused Islamabad’s military of using cross-border strikes to distract from its own internal security failures.
The strikes occurred in the early hours of Monday following a warning from Mujahid two days prior that Afghanistan reserved the right to defend its territory under international law. The exchange follows intensifying cross-border hostility, as Pakistan blames militant groups it says operate from Afghan soil for recent attacks, including a shootout in Hangu and a suicide bombing in Kohat. Both Kabul and Islamabad publicly accuse each other of sheltering or failing to rein in armed groups, straining their relationship amid wider regional instability.