ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistani civilians were killed by a mortar shell as Afghan Taliban forces targeted civilian populations in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a security official said on Sunday, amid ongoing clashes between the neighbors.
The cross-border strikes and clashes, which erupted late last month, have shown no signs of abating despite efforts by China, Turkiye and other countries to broker a ceasefire.
A security official, who requested anonymity, said on Sunday that mortar shells fired from Afghanistan landed in Salarzai tehsil and surrounding localities in KP’s Bajaur district.
“One mortar shell struck a residential house,” the official said. “As a result of the explosion, four people inside the house were martyred on the spot. All four victims were brothers.”
The conflict began when Afghan forces targeted Pakistan border posts on Feb. 26 in response to Islamabad’s earlier air strikes on what it said were Pakistani Taliban and Daesh camps inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban government of harboring militant groups, mainly the Pakistani Taliban, that cross the porous border between the two countries to stage attacks against Pakistani forces. Kabul denies harboring militant groups.
Islamabad claims to have killed more than 680 Afghan Taliban fighters since the clashes began, while Kabul says dozens of Pakistani soldiers have been killed in skirmishes. None of the battlefield claims can be independently verified.
Meanwhile, Pakistani information minister denied the Afghan defense ministry’s claim of a “successful” strike on a military installation in KP’s South Waziristan district.
“The fact is that a rudimentary drone was destroyed over South Waziristan through soft kill measures. No military installation or infrastructure was hit,” it said on X, sharing pictures of the drone debris.
“The Taliban regime’s claim reflects their established pattern of pushing propaganda and fabricated claims, such as the recent false assertions about shooting down Pakistan Air Force aircraft and capturing pilots, hence cannot be relied upon.”
Pakistan earlier said it had targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s Kandahar region overnight as the fighting showed no signs of abating.
In a post on X, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the military had struck equipment storage facilities and “technical support infrastructure” in overnight attacks in Kandahar.
Afghan government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Pakistan had hit two locations: a site used by security guards during the day that was empty at night, and a drug rehabilitation center that suffered slight damage. He said there were no casualties.
Earlier this week, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged for a peaceful resolution of the Afghanistan-Pakistan dispute, warning the use of force worsens tensions and threatens regional stability.
A Qatari-mediated ceasefire in October briefly reduced tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but subsequent talks in Turkiye failed to produce a lasting agreement.
