Pakistan carried out midnight air and drone strikes on TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar hideouts across Kunar, Paktika and Khost.
The Taliban accused Pakistan of killing civilians, including “nine children and one woman,” and is assessing further damage.
The strikes follow a series of attacks on Pakistani security forces, which Islamabad says were guided from Afghan soil.
Taliban Claims 10 Killed In Pakistani Air and Drone Strikes In Afghanistan
Strikes recorded in Kunar, Paktika and Khost as Pakistan targets “alleged hideouts” of TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
Summary
Pakistan carried out a series of midnight air and drone strikes across many provinces in Afghanistan, targeting alleged hideouts of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar along the Durand Line, resulting in over ten dead, according to various reports.
The Taliban government has responded strongly to the strikes, which have been recorded in the provinces of Kunar, Paktika, and Khost, claiming numerous civilian casualties.
Reportedly, the operations concentrated on the Barmal region of Paktika province, which intelligence sources characterised as a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militant stronghold.
Locals in Barmal claimed to have heard loud explosions just after midnight after drone attacks struck a car close to a guest house (hujra).
In 2022, an explosion in the same area claimed the life of former TTP leader Umar Khalid Khorasani. A suicide attack on the Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters in Peshawar on Monday was initially attributed to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
Another strike was claimed by locals in Kunar province, while Afghan Taliban authorities were still assessing the damage and awaiting complete ground reports.
AFP reported that Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid alleged that least ten civilians (nine children and one woman) were killed in Khost province.
He added that strikes in Kunar and Paktika wounded four more civilians.
According to AFP, the bombardment followed an unclaimed suicide attack on Pakistan’s security forces earlier this week in a province bordering Afghanistan.
The report also claimed that Pakistan has recently blamed militants operating from Afghan soil for a series of attacks, including a suicide blast in Islamabad earlier this month that killed 12 people.
Islamabad alleged that the attackers were guided by a “high command based in Afghanistan."
The report also highlighted that the latest raids followed twin suicide bombings in Peshawar on Monday, which killed three paramilitary personnel.
Reuters also reported Mujahid claiming that Pakistani forces bombed the home of a civilian, Wilayat Khan, in Khost’s Gerbzwo district.
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