ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that it had summoned the Pakistani ambassador to protest what it says were airstrikes conducted by the Pakistani military earlier in the day.
"Five children and a woman were killed and a man wounded in Pakistani rocket attacks in Shelton district of Kunar," provincial director of information Najibullah Hassan Abdaal told AFP.
Ehsanullah, a resident of Shelton district who goes by one name as many Afghans do, said the assault was carried out by Pakistani military aircraft. He confirmed the death toll.
A similar pre-dawn assault was carried out in Afghanistan's Khost province near the border, another Afghan government official said.
"Pakistani helicopters bombarded four villages near the Durand line in Khost province," he said on condition of anonymity.
"Only civilian houses were targeted and there were casualties," he added, but did not offer more details.
An Afghan tribal elder from Khost, Gul Markhan, confirmed the incident in Khost.
Hundreds of civilians of Khost poured into the streets chanting anti-Pakistan slogans later on Saturday, Afghan media reports said.
"Such military violations including in Khost and Kunar should be prevented as ill-wishers and groups with vested interests will exploit these incidents," Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told the Pakistani envoy, according to a ministry statement.
Pakistani military officials were not immediately available for comment, and Taliban government spokesmen in Kabul declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Afghanistan and Pakistan share a porous and volatile border. Ever since the Taliban seized power in August last year, Pakistan has seen a rise in militant attacks on its territory by militant groups from Afghanistan, most notably the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Pakistan, over the past couple of months, has called on Afghanistan to take stern action against militants that were attacking Pakistan’s armed forces from across the border.
The Taliban deny harboring Pakistani militants, but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre (1,600-mile) border known as the Durand line, which was drawn up in colonial times.
In February, six Pakistan soldiers were killed in firing by the TTP from Afghanistan.
Thousands of people usually cross the border daily, including traders, Afghans seeking medical treatment in Pakistan, and people visiting relatives.
