Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces on Thursday, killing nine people and injuring 11 others, according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Mujahid said the strikes hit residential areas in the Shaltan and Chawgam districts of Kunar and the Garmser district of Helmand. He said women and children were among those killed and condemned the attacks as an act of aggression and a violation of international norms.
Pakistan gave a different account of the strikes. Its Information Ministry said the military targeted militant hideouts at two locations based on “credible intelligence” and that initial reports indicated 22 militants had been killed. It also said weapons and ammunition stored at the sites were destroyed.
The latest strikes come amid a renewed escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan following about three months of relative calm. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban authorities of allowing militants, including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghanistan territory. Kabul denies the allegations and says militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.
Pakistan has conducted several airstrikes inside Afghanistan in recent weeks, saying it was targeting militant infrastructure. Afghan authorities have repeatedly said civilians were killed in some of those attacks. The UN mission in Afghanistan reported last week that more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries had been documented from cross-border violence in Afghanistan so far this year.
The latest exchange of accusations comes after an attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan last month that killed 24 people, according to Reuters. The incident contributed to renewed tensions between the two neighboring countries, which experienced their most serious fighting in years earlier this year.
