Afghan authorities say a series of overnight Pakistani airstrikes have killed nine children and a woman in southeastern Afghanistan, shattering a fragile ceasefire and inflaming already-raw tensions between the neighboring countries, according to Al Jazeera and TOLOnews.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, reported that the attacks struck shortly after midnight in Khost province’s Gurbuz district, leveling the home of a civilian, Waliat Khan, and killing five boys, four girls, and a woman. He said additional strikes in Kunar and Paktika provinces wounded at least four civilians.
“Pakistani invading forces bombed the home of a civilian,” Mujahid wrote in a statement, condemning the raids as a “violation and crime” and warning that Afghanistan would “respond appropriately at the right time.” Islamabad has yet to comment.
The bombardment came less than 24 hours after a suicide attack on Pakistan’s Federal Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar, claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Pakistan Taliban (TTP). Pakistani officials said the attackers were Afghan nationals; President Asif Zardari blamed “foreign-backed Fitna al-Khawarij,” the government’s term for TTP fighters it accuses Kabul of sheltering. Another TTP-linked attack in Islamabad earlier this month killed at least a dozen people, intensifying Islamabad’s pressure on Kabul to curb cross-border militancy.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai denounced the strikes, calling them “hostile” acts that violate international norms. “Pakistan must abandon such destructive policies,” he said, urging a return to diplomacy. Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. special representative for Afghan reconciliation, also offered condolences and criticized the killing of civilians, saying it “solves no problem.”
The events threaten to unravel weeks of delicate negotiation. Qatar and Türkiye recently hosted talks aimed at easing tensions after deadly border clashes in October left about 70 people dead. While those meetings produced a tenuous ceasefire, the latest airstrikes appear to have shattered it, leaving both sides once again trading blame and warnings.
As Afghanistan mourns its dead and Pakistan reels from surging attacks, the gulf between the two neighbors seems to be widening—one airstrike, one accusation, and one retaliation at a time.
