ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed the deaths of six paramilitary personnel in a militant attack near the northwestern city of Peshawar, as Afghanistan accused Islamabad of carrying out fresh airstrikes across the border in the latest sign of worsening tensions between the neighboring countries.
The attack, claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, took place in Hassan Khel on the outskirts of Peshawar near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Media reports said dozens of militants attacked a checkpoint on Monday using firearms, hand grenades and mortar shells, killing six members of the Federal Constabulary, a national paramilitary force that supports security operations in Pakistan’s northwestern regions.
Officials said eight other personnel were abducted during the assault. In a report in state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari expressed “deep sorrow and grief” over the six deaths and paid tribute to the personnel.
The attack comes as relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan remain strained over a surge in militant violence that Islamabad says is being planned from Afghan territory. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation Kabul denies.
On Wednesday, Afghan officials accused Pakistan of carrying out new strikes in the eastern Afghan provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika.
“Last night, the Pakistani military once again violated Afghanistan’s airspace and bombed civilian homes in the provinces of Kunar, Khost, and Paktika,” Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on X.
“As a result of these attacks, 11 children, one woman, and one elderly man were killed.”
Pakistan’s military and government did not immediately comment on the allegations.
The reported strikes are the deadliest in weeks and come against the backdrop of a months-long security crisis between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Relations deteriorated sharply in October last year after Pakistani strikes on militant targets in Afghanistan triggered deadly cross-border clashes and the closure of key border crossings.
Pakistan says its actions are aimed at militants who launch attacks from Afghan territory and has repeatedly argued that Kabul has failed to curb the activities of the Pakistani Taliban. Afghan authorities reject the accusation and accuse Islamabad of violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty.
A ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Türkiye in October helped halt the fighting, but follow-up talks failed to produce a lasting agreement and tensions resurfaced in February, when both sides exchanged fresh strikes and accused each other of supporting hostile armed groups.
According to a United Nations report published last month, at least 372 Afghan civilians were killed and 397 wounded during the first three months of this year’s conflict.
