Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan kill at least 13 people, Taliban
official says
[June 10, 2026]
By ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN and MUNIR AHMED
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan said Wednesday that Pakistan
launched new airstrikes targeting the country, killing at least 13
people and wounding 14 others, in a further sign of rising tensions
between the two neighbors after months of fighting that has killed
hundreds.
Though the situation along the border was calm hours after the strikes,
Kabul has previously responded to Pakistani strikes by targeting
Pakistani posts along the frontier.
Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the latest airstrikes
targeted the Afghan provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika and killed 11
children, one woman and one elderly man.
There was no immediate acknowledgment of the strikes deep inside
Afghanistan from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or military.
The strikes came a day after suspected Pakistani Taliban militants
attacked a security post in the Hasan Khel area of northwestern Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, triggering an intense
gunbattle in which six members of the Federal Constabulary were killed
and several others wounded, according to Pakistan’s Interior Ministry.
Local authorities said Tuesday that security forces killed eight of the
attackers and thwarted an attempt to overrun the checkpoint. Interior
Minister Mohsin Naqvi later attended funeral prayers for the dead
personnel in Peshawar, the ministry said.
Naqvi paid tribute to the dead and expressed condolences to their
families, saying their sacrifices would not be forgotten. He also said
Pakistan remained united in its fight against militancy and that
operations against groups threatening peace and security would be
intensified.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have engaged in deadly fighting since late
February, when Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in
retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
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Pakistan in February declared it was in open war with its
Afghanistan, following a surge in militant attacks on civilians and
security forces inside Pakistan. Afghanistan has said a deadly
Pakistani airstrikes in March hit a drug-treatment center in Kabul,
killing more than 400 people. The death toll could not be
independently confirmed.
Pakistan has disputed the claim and denied targeting civilians,
saying it struck an ammunition depot.
The latest development comes months after China hosted peace talks
between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Urumqi, in northern China, and
later Beijing said Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed not to
escalate their conflict and to explore a solution.
Authorities in Pakistan have said that Beijing and some other
friendly countries were still encouraging both sides to reach an
agreement for durable peace.
Masood Khan, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said Pakistan’s
priority is ending attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, which
Islamabad says operate from Afghan soil.
Khan said the solution to the tension lies in enforcing a decree by
Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada ordering the TTP to
stop attacks on Pakistan. “That decree must be implemented sincerely
and faithfully,” he said.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that carry out
deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban,
known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. The group is separate
from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban, which has ruled
Afghanistan since it seized power in the country in 2021 amid the
chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies the charge.
The Pakistan-Afghanistan border has remained closed to bilateral
trade since October, stranding thousands of people.
___
Ahmed reported from Islamabad.
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