Afghan Taliban government accuses Pakistan of airstrikes in Khost, Kunar and Paktika and claims fatalities
The Taliban government says Pakistan carried out overnight airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, killing civilians including children. Pakistan has not commented.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of violating Afghan airspace and striking homes in Khost, Kunar and Paktika. BBC says it cannot verify the claims, which come amid rising Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions and stalled diplomacy.
Two neighbors are blaming each other after one side said planes crossed the border at night and hit houses. The report says people, including children, may have died, but the claims were not independently checked.
Analysis
What happened
The Taliban government in Afghanistan says Pakistan crossed into Afghan airspace overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday and carried out airstrikes near the Durand Line. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes hit civilian homes in Khost, Kunar and Paktika, and he posted images on social media that he said showed children killed in the attacks.
BBC Urdu says it cannot independently verify either the allegations or the images. Pakistan had not issued a public response at the time of the report.
Reported casualties
Mujahid claimed that 11 children, one woman and one elderly person were killed. A Taliban-appointed governor spokesman in Khost told BBC Pashto that nine people died and 10 were wounded in a village in the Speera district. He said children and a woman were among the dead. The report also says three deaths were reported in the Barmal district of Paktika, which borders Khost.
Broader context
The article places the allegations inside a worsening security and diplomatic picture. It notes that Pakistan and the Taliban government have been arguing for months over cross-border attacks, with Islamabad accusing militants based in Afghanistan of launching attacks into Pakistan. The Taliban deny allowing Afghan soil to be used against any other country.
The report also says the latest claims came soon after a TTP attack on a security checkpoint near Peshawar, and while Chinese efforts were under way to support talks between the two sides. It cites a recent UN Security Council discussion in which Pakistan defended earlier strikes as targeting terrorist infrastructure rather than Afghan civilians.
Key points
- The Taliban government accused Pakistan of carrying out overnight airstrikes in Khost, Kunar and Paktika.
- Zabihullah Mujahid said civilians were killed and posted images he said showed dead children.
- BBC said it could not independently verify the allegations, the images or the casualty figures.
- A Taliban official in Khost said nine people were killed and 10 were wounded in one village.
- The report places the claims against a backdrop of rising Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions and ongoing talks.
If the allegations are addressed through talks and verification, both sides could get a clearer picture of what happened and reduce the risk of more confusion. The ongoing diplomatic contacts could still provide a path to calm the border situation.
If the strikes did happen and civilians were killed, the incident could sharply worsen already tense relations and fuel more anger on both sides. If Pakistan denies the claims and the Taliban keeps pressing them, the dispute could undermine the fragile dialogue process and deepen the cycle of accusations.
