ISLAMABAD: The Afghan government on Tuesday accused Pakistan of carrying out overnight airstrikes in three eastern provinces that killed at least 10 civilians, including nine children and a woman, as Pakistan’s military separately announced it had killed 22 militants in an intelligence-based operation in its northwest region bordering Afghanistan.
Kabul said the strikes hit the Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces.
“Last night at 12 o’clock in the Gerbzwo district of Khost province, Pakistani invading forces bombed the house of civilian local resident Wilayat Khan,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on X, posting images of the dead.
Mujahid said Pakistan also carried out raids in the provinces of Kunar and Paktika, injuring four civilians.
Pakistan’s military and foreign ministry have not yet commented on Kabul’s accusations, which come amid a sharp escalation of violence along the Afghan-Pakistan border, where militant attacks have surged in recent years.
On Monday, three suicide bombers targeted the headquarters of a Pakistani paramilitary force in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing three personnel and injuring at least five.
Against this backdrop, the Pakistan army said it carried out an operation in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Nov. 24 targeting what it called Khawarij, a term the military uses for extremist groups like the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and allegedly supported by foreign intelligence agencies.
“During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the Khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, twenty two Khwarij were sent to hell,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that a “sanitization operation” was ongoing to clear the area of any remaining fighters.
ISPR also described the militants as belonging to an “Indian proxy,” language Pakistan routinely uses for groups it accuses New Delhi of supporting, allegations India denies.
The military said the raid fell under “Azm-e-Istehkam,” Pakistan’s renewed counterterrorism push launched this year after a sharp rise in attacks linked to militants Islamabad says operate from Afghan soil. The framework aims to unify military and civilian agencies in a more aggressive campaign against insurgent networks.
Regional tensions have risen sharply since October, when Pakistani and Afghan forces clashed in some of the deadliest exchanges since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.
Though the two sides agreed to a ceasefire brokered in Doha, follow-up talks in Türkiye collapsed amid disagreements over insurgent groups like the TTP that Islamabad says strike from bases in Afghanistan. Kabul rejects the claim.
