Airstrikes carried out by Pakistani military aircraft in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province on Tuesday have resulted in the deaths of at least 46 people, mostly women and children, according to the Afghan Taliban, Reuters reports.
The Taliban has vowed to retaliate for the attack.
Deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat stated on Wednesday that the bombing targeted four locations and also injured six people. The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s head of mission in Kabul to issue a formal protest, warning of the consequences of such actions.
While Pakistani government and military officials have yet to publicly respond, a Pakistani official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, indicated that Pakistan carried out the airstrikes against a camp of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). The TTP is an Islamist militant group that pledges allegiance to the Afghan Taliban but is not directly part of the ruling government in Afghanistan. The TTP aims to impose Islamic law in Pakistan, mirroring the Taliban’s actions in Afghanistan.
The airstrikes come after a significant TTP attack in Pakistan’s South Waziristan area on Saturday, which killed 16 Pakistani security personnel. The Afghan defense ministry stated that those killed in the Pakistani bombardment were “mostly Waziristani refugees,” suggesting they were from Pakistan’s Waziristan region.
The incident underscores the tense relationship between the two countries. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of harboring TTP militants who have launched several attacks on Pakistani soil, a charge the Afghan Taliban has repeatedly denied.
This is not the first cross-border incident between the two countries. In March, the Taliban accused Pakistan of carrying out two airstrikes on its territory, resulting in the deaths of five women and children. Pakistan claimed those strikes were “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” but did not provide specific details.