Afghanistan’s Taliban government yesterday vowed to “respond appropriately” to overnight border strikes that killed 10 people it blamed on Pakistan, as tensions soar following a suicide bombing in Peshawar a day earlier.
“The Pakistani invading forces bombed the house of a local civilian resident,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on social media. “As a result, nine children [five boys and four girls] and one woman were martyred” in Khost Province.
Airstrikes targeting the border regions of Kunar and Paktika wounded another four civilians, he added.
Photo: AP
The raids were carried out by drones and other aircraft, said Mustaghfir Gurbuz, a spokesman for the governor of Khost.
In Jige Mughalgai, near the Pakistan frontier, a correspondent saw residents searching through the rubble of a collapsed house and preparing graves for victims.
“The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns this violation and reiterates that defending its airspace, territory and people is its legitimate right, and it will respond appropriately at the right time,” Mujahid said in a separate statement.
The Pakistani military did not comment on the strikes when contacted.
The bombardment follows a suicide attack on Monday that targeted the headquarters of Pakistan’s Federal Constabulary force in Peshawar, killing three officers and wounding 11 others.
No group has claimed responsibility, but state broadcaster PTV reported the attackers were Afghan nationals and Pakistani President Asif Zardari blamed the “foreign-backed Fitna al-Khawarij” — Islamabad’s term for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants it accuses of operating from Afghan soil.
Another suicide blast outside a court in the Pakistan capital, Islamabad, this month killed 12 people and was claimed by a faction of the TTP, which shares the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban.
Islamabad blamed a militant cell which was “guided at every step by the ... high command based in Afghanistan” for the capital attack.
Pakistani Minister of Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar held a news conference yesterday focused on the Islamabad attack.
He broadcast a video confession from one of the four suspects in custody, and said: “There is clear-cut evidence that TTA [Afghan Taliban] and TTP did it together, and the suicide bomber was a resident of Afghanistan.”
“Afghanistan is fully involved ... and their soil is also involved. The people being sheltered there are also involved,” he added on live television, without mentioning the strikes in the neighboring nation.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have been fraught since the Taliban swept back to power in 2021, and worsened after deadly border clashes last month that killed about 70 people on both sides.
The fighting ended with a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but several rounds of talks in Doha and Istanbul failed to produce a lasting deal, with security issues, especially Pakistan’s demand that Kabul curb TTP fighters, proving a sticking point.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of sheltering militants behind a surge in attacks, including the TTP, which has waged a bloody campaign against Pakistan for years. Kabul denies the charge.
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