3 civilians killed as Pakistani forces bomb border areas in Afghanistan

Pakistani military aircraft carried out airstrikes early Monday on civilian areas in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar and Paktika provinces, killing three people and wounding four others, according to Taliban officials.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, said the attacks occurred overnight. In Kunar’s Nurgal district, a residential house was struck, resulting in the deaths of one woman and two men. Two women and two men were injured. All the victims were described as local civilians.

In Paktika’s Barmal district, strikes hit one house and a tailor’s shop. No casualties were reported there.

Mujahid condemned the action as “crime and aggression,” calling it a repetition of previous violations. He accused Pakistani military authorities of launching the strikes to divert attention from security failures inside Pakistan and vowed that Afghans would respond appropriately.

The strikes took place roughly between 2:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time, according to reports citing local sources and Taliban-affiliated media. Pakistani officials had not issued an immediate public comment on the latest incidents at the time of reporting.

The attacks mark the first known cross-border airstrikes by Pakistan inside Afghanistan since late June, when similar operations in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar killed dozens of civilians according to Afghan and United Nations accounts. Pakistan has previously described such operations as precision strikes against hideouts of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and affiliated groups, which Islamabad accuses of operating from Afghan territory. The Taliban government has repeatedly denied providing sanctuary to those militants and insists the problem is internal to Pakistan.

Tensions along the disputed Durand Line border have remained high throughout 2026, with periodic exchanges of fire, drone incidents, and competing claims of civilian and militant casualties. The latest strikes follow a recent militant attack in Pakistan’s Kohat area that killed more than a dozen people.

Afghan officials and local media reported that border clashes between Taliban forces and Pakistani troops also intensified in some sectors after the airstrikes. No independent verification of the casualty figures or exact targets was immediately available.