Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province killed at least four people and injured six others, most of them women and children, according to Afghan officials, as tensions between the two neighboring countries continue to escalate.
The strikes hit two residential houses in Garmsir district early Thursday, according to Mawlawi Sher Mohammad Wahdat, head of Helmand’s Information and Culture Department, who spoke to Reuters. Taliban officials also said other areas were targeted during the overnight operation.
Hafiz Abdul Bari Rashid Helmandi, head of the Taliban’s Information and Culture Department in Helmand, said the attacks took place at about 3:30 a.m. local time in three locations in Safar area of Garmsir. He said two houses and an Eid prayer site were targeted.
The casualty figures remained preliminary. The Associated Press, citing Afghan authorities, later reported that Pakistani airstrikes in Helmand and Kunar provinces killed nine women and children and injured another 11 people. The conflicting figures could not immediately be independently reconciled.
Pakistan, however, said the strikes targeted militant hideouts rather than civilian areas. Its Information Ministry said the operation was based on what it described as “credible intelligence” and that 22 alleged militants were killed and weapons caches destroyed. Pakistan said there were no civilian casualties. The competing casualty claims have not been independently verified.
The latest strikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Kabul and Islamabad and repeated cross-border clashes. Pakistan has carried out several rounds of airstrikes inside Afghanistan this year, while Afghan authorities have accused Islamabad of violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty and putting civilians at risk.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has reported more than 1,100 civilian casualties from cross-border violence in Afghanistan so far this year, underscoring the growing humanitarian impact of the conflict.
Both sides continue to dispute responsibility for militant activity and civilian casualties. With no independently verified account of the latest strikes available, the full human and material toll remains unclear.
