Pakistan strikes Afghanistan border provinces, says 26 fighters killed

Pakistan launched air strikes across its border with Afghanistan, saying it killed 26 militants in what it called “precise and calibrated” attacks, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government said the strikes killed 13 civilians, including 11 children.

The raids, reported Wednesday, broke a period of relative calm along the volatile frontier and renewed tensions between the two neighbors, which have repeatedly accused each other of harboring hostile armed groups.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the military destroyed four targets along the border, including a training center, an ammunition cache and positions linked to commanders Aleem Khan Khushali and Akhtar Muhammad Jani Khel. In a post on X, he said the targets were hideouts and safe havens of the Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP.

Tarar said the strikes were carried out in response to “recent terrorist incidents in Pakistan” and were based on credible intelligence. He cited several attacks, including a June 9 strike on a Federal Constabulary post in Musa Dara, a June 2 vehicle-borne suicide attack on a military post in North Waziristan and a May 9 suicide bombing at a police station in Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Pakistan has always strived for maintaining peace and stability in the region, but at the same time the safety and security of our citizens remains our top priority,” Tarar said.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government gave a sharply different account. Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani strikes hit Kunar, Khost and Paktika provinces and killed “11 children, one woman, and one elderly man.” He said 14 other women and children were wounded.

“We strongly condemn this humanitarian crime and act of aggression,” Mujahid said.

Al Jazeera, citing an official in Khost province who spoke to AFP, reported that a house in the Spera district was struck, killing nine people and wounding 10 others. In neighboring Paktika province, residents told AFP that an attack in Barmal district killed three civilians, including children, after an air raid hit a home.

The strikes came a day after suspected TTP fighters attacked a security post in the Hasan Khel area of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. The attack triggered a gun battle in which six members of the Federal Constabulary were killed and several others wounded, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior, Al Jazeera reported.

Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of allowing militants to use its territory to plan and launch attacks on Pakistani soil. Islamabad has focused particular attention on the TTP, which has carried out deadly attacks in Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government rejects the accusation and has repeatedly said Afghan territory is not being used to threaten other countries. Afghan officials have also accused Pakistan of harboring hostile groups and violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty.

The latest escalation is the most serious since earlier fighting along the border left heavy casualties. The BBC reported that clashes in February left hundreds dead, while Al Jazeera reported that fighting escalated sharply in late February after Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack in retaliation for Pakistani air raids.

The two countries have previously reached ceasefire arrangements after deadly clashes, but the border has remained unstable. Al Jazeera reported that a fragile ceasefire deal reached in March collapsed after both sides accused the other of violations. The BBC reported that the two countries had agreed to a ceasefire last October following weeks of deadly clashes.

The United Nations reported in May that cross-border fighting killed at least 372 Afghan civilians and injured 397 in the first three months of 2026, according to Al Jazeera. World leaders have called on both countries to halt hostilities as sporadic clashes continue.