Pakistani attacks kill dozens in Afghanistan

2026-06-29 07:55:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Pakistan launched air strikes and sent ground troops into Afghan provinces along its western border on Sunday, killing dozens of civilians, officials say.

Afghanistan's Taliban government condemned the "cowardly act" and called it "a crime and atrocity." At least 100 people were killed or wounded, Taliban officials told BBC Pashto.

Twenty-nine militants were killed in the strikes targeting their hideouts, Pakistan's information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said, adding that the strikes were a response to "recent terrorist attacks against innocent people."

Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harboring terrorists who carry out attacks on its soil, a claim the Taliban government denies.

Kabul, on the other hand, has previously accused Islamabad of carrying out unprovoked attacks in which civilians have been killed - although Pakistan says it only targets militants.

The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire last October after weeks of deadly fighting. However, as with previous internationally brokered ceasefire agreements, this truce has since broken down.

Afghanistan's Taliban government says the attacks hit civilian homes, while Pakistan says they targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces.

The casualties were concentrated in Mandikhel, a village in Paktika province, Taliban officials said.

Sunday's attacks come a day after three members of the Sindh Rangers, a Pakistani paramilitary force, were killed at their headquarters in Karachi, according to the Pakistani military. Three militants also died in the suicide attack, and Pakistani officials said they had arrested a fourth, who was an Afghan.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the TTP, claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.

Both the TTP - also known as the Pakistani Taliban - and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar are banned in Pakistan and by the United Nations, due to their involvement in past attacks.

Border clashes and occasional airstrikes in the border area have killed dozens of people in recent months, according to officials in both countries.

In February, clashes between the two countries left dozens dead. In March, a Pakistani attack on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul killed hundreds of people.

Earlier in June, Pakistan launched deadly airstrikes that killed 26 militants. Afghanistan's Taliban government said 13 people, mostly children, were also killed in the attacks.