According to the Taliban government, Pakistan conducted airstrikes inside Afghanistan on Monday night, killing at least ten civilians, including nine children, as tensions between the two neighbouring nations continue to grow.
Five boys, four girls, and a woman were killed in the strikes that struck a private home in Khost province late on Monday, according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
"Last night, around 12 o'clock, Pakistani invading forces carried out a bombing on the home of a local resident, Wilayat Khan son of Qazi Mir, in the Mughalgay area of Gerbaz district in Khost province, as a result of which 9 children (5 boys and 4 girls) and one woman were martyred, and his home was destroyed," Mujahid wrote in a post to social media site X
Four more civilians have been injured in Pakistani airstrikes in the border areas of Kunar and Paktika, he continued. The action was taken just hours after gunmen attacked the Frontier Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar, a crucial security facility close to the military cantonment area, causing new security unrest in Pakistan.
Two suicide bombers participated in the attack, according to police and security sources who spoke to Reuters. The first bomber detonated explosives at the entrance before the second entered the facility.
Security personnel blocked off nearby roads while they searched for further attackers they thought might be inside after at least three individuals were reported dead.
Residents in surrounding neighbourhoods reported hearing gunfire and explosions late into the night, and authorities claimed police and army troops were coordinating the response.
At a time when ties with Kabul are at their most tense in years, the strike adds to growing worries about Pakistan's domestic security.
In addition, a suicide attack in Islamabad earlier this month claimed twelve lives. The Pakistan Taliban, which has ideological ties to the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, took credit.
Islamabad then claimed that leadership located in Afghanistan across the border gave "step by step" instructions to the militants responsible for the capital explosion. The violence follows the collapse of multiple rounds of negotiations to reduce border tensions last month.
Afghanistan's Commerce and Industry Minister Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi hinted at a possible reset in New Delhi-Kabul economic engagement following his visit to India, which had previously remained stalled since the Taliban takeover in 2021, as a way to counter declining trade and diplomatic ties with Islamabad.
Azizi stated that both nations are looking to "reactivate historic relations" in the areas of trade and investment during a press briefing in New Delhi on Monday.
He also mentioned that technical teams and private sector representatives from Afghanistan and India have already started looking into potential areas of cooperation.
