Pakistan Launches Overnight Airstrikes in Afghanistan; Taliban Claims Civilian Deaths

Nearly 10 casualties were reported after Pakistan carried out a series of overnight air and drone strikes across multiple provinces in Afghanistan, targeting suspected hideouts of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar along the Durand Line, according to intelligence inputs accessed by CNN-News18.

The strikes—carried out in Kunar, Paktika, and Khost—have prompted strong condemnation from the Taliban administration, which claims several civilians were killed. According to intelligence sources, the operations were concentrated in the Barmal region of Paktika province, described as a key stronghold of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militants.

Drone strikes reportedly hit a vehicle near a guest house (hujra), with residents of Barmal saying heavy explosions were heard shortly after midnight. The same region witnessed the killing of former TTP commander Umar Khalid Khorasani in 2022. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters in Peshawar earlier this week.

Local accounts also reported another strike in Kunar province, while Afghan Taliban officials continued assessing the situation and awaiting full ground reports. AFP quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying that at least ten civilians—nine children and one woman—were killed in Khost province. He added that strikes in Kunar and Paktika injured four others.

According to AFP, the bombardment followed an unclaimed suicide attack on Pakistani security forces earlier in the week in a province bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan has recently accused militants operating from Afghan soil of orchestrating multiple attacks, including a suicide blast in Islamabad earlier this month that killed 12 people. Islamabad further alleged that the attackers were directed by a “high command based in Afghanistan.”

Tensions between the two countries have been rising for months. Both sides exchanged cross-border fire in October before entering a fragile truce that has since shown signs of strain.

Reuters also quoted Mujahid as saying that Pakistani forces bombed the home of a civilian, Wilayat Khan, in Khost’s Gerbzwo district. The report noted that the latest raids came just a day after twin suicide bombings in Peshawar that killed three paramilitary personnel. The agency further recalled that clashes between the two armies in October resulted in multiple deaths, and subsequent ceasefire talks in Turkey collapsed amid disputes over anti-Pakistan militant groups sheltering inside Afghanistan.