Pakistan carried out overnight airstrikes on two provinces in Afghanistan, killing at least 10 civilians — most of them children — Afghanistan’s Taliban government and the United Nations said on Thursday, in the latest escalation of a cross-border conflict that shows no signs of abating.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed the civilian toll in the strikes on the southern province of Helmand and the eastern province of Kunar, both carried out on Wednesday night. Pakistan’s information ministry said its jets hit two militant hideouts “based on credible intelligence” and reported 22 militants killed — a claim that could not be independently verified.
Key facts
- Where: Safar area of Garmser district in Helmand province, and the Chugam area of Shultan district in Kunar province, near the Pakistan border.
- When: overnight Wednesday–Thursday, in what Pakistan called “planned and calibrated” strikes.
- Casualties: UNAMA confirmed at least 10 civilians killed — most of them children — and 9 injured. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said three civilian homes were destroyed, condemning the raids as “an act of aggression.”
- Pakistan’s claim: 22 militants killed and weapons and ammunition destroyed in “selective targeting of terrorist camps and hideouts.”
- Context: the two countries went to war earlier this year; despite a March truce, sporadic attacks have continued. UNAMA says it has documented over 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries from cross-border violence this year.
What happened in Helmand and Kunar
In Helmand’s Safar village, residents told AFP that three airstrikes hit their village. Fifty-year-old Abdul Wahid said the strikes killed four people and wounded seven. Another villager, 32-year-old Qudrat Ullah, said he was home when his neighbours’ house was hit.
“The whole area is destroyed,” he told AFP by phone, adding that residents were being kept away from the strike sites. “There were civilians, children, women; they have killed them. There is no military or anything else.”
Two children were admitted to a hospital in Helmand’s provincial capital Lashkar Gah run by the Italian aid group EMERGENCY, the organisation told AFP.
In mountainous Kunar province, an AFP journalist saw the remains of stone houses in the remote Chugam Valley. Farmer Mohammad Hashim, 30, said he rushed to rescue residents after the pre-dawn attack.
“There was a woman, she was screaming for help to get her out of the rubble. She was having trouble breathing and told us that there are more people over there,” he told AFP. “We went there to dig, and there was a man with four children who were killed.”
Villagers search the rubble of destroyed homes after Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan. (Photo: Watan News)
Competing claims: Pakistan vs the Taliban
Islamabad says the raids were “well planned and calibrated” against militant hideouts and camps, carried out “with precision and accuracy,” and that large quantities of weapons and ammunition were destroyed. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants behind frequent bomb and gun attacks inside Pakistan that have killed civilians and security personnel.
The Taliban government flatly rejects that charge and accuses Pakistan of violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty. “We condemn this act and consider this an act of aggression and a crime that violates all universally accepted principles,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. In an initial statement he reported nine Afghan civilians, including women and children, killed and 11 injured; the UN mission later confirmed 10 civilians killed — most of them children — and nine injured.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai also condemned the strikes on residential areas in Kunar and Helmand as an “infringement of Afghanistan’s sovereignty,” offering condolences to the families of the dead and praying for the swift recovery of the wounded.
A damaged home interior after a Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan. (Photo: Watan News)
A conflict with no end in sight
The latest strikes follow bombardment last week on multiple Afghan provinces, which the Taliban government said killed multiple civilians, and a strike on Kandahar — a province of great symbolic importance for the Taliban movement. Afghanistan and Pakistan went to war earlier this year, and with no permanent resolution reached on security issues, there have been sporadic attacks since a March truce.
The human cost is mounting: UNAMA said last week it had documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan from cross-border violence so far this year, and more than 500 civilians have been killed in violence between the two countries since October.
UN calls for de-escalation
“Civilians continue to be affected by cross-border hostilities. UNAMA reiterates its call for de-escalation, dialogue, respect for international law and prevention of further civilian harm,” the UN mission said in a statement.
Pakistan denies striking civilians and says it targets militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Afghanistan denies harbouring militants.
Conclusion
With both sides entrenched and civilians bearing the heaviest cost, the latest Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan underline how far the neighbours remain from any lasting settlement — and how vulnerable ordinary Afghans remain to a conflict that keeps crossing the border. For more on the region’s crises, see our Asia coverage on the main site.
