Pakistan Airstrikes in Afghanistan Kill 28 Militants, 3 Civilians—UN Confirms

Pakistani fighter jets conducted airstrikes early Monday in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar and Paktika provinces, killing what Pakistan claimed were 28 militants in suspected militant hideouts. Afghan authorities and the United Nations, however, reported at least three civilian deaths from the strikes near the shared border, marking a renewed escalation in cross-border tensions between the two countries.

The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed in a social media post that "at least three civilians, including a man, a woman and a girl, were killed and four injured in apparent airstrikes" in Kunar province in the early hours of Monday. Local Afghan officials reported the first strike occurred around 3 a.m. in Nurgal district of Kunar province, destroying a building and killing three people with several others injured. Two additional strikes hit Barmal district in Paktika province around 4 a.m., destroying a shop and an unoccupied house but causing no reported casualties in those locations.

Pakistan's Information Ministry characterized the operation as a planned, intelligence-driven response to recent militant attacks on Pakistani security forces near the border. The ministry stated the airstrikes targeted "hideouts and safe havens of terrorist organizations responsible for these attacks." This followed deadly attacks on Pakistani security personnel, including a shooting incident in Hangu district and a suicide attack on a police facility in Kohat in recent days. Pakistan has blamed the Pakistani Taliban and allied militant groups for most of the violence.

Afghanistan's government strongly condemned the strikes. Afghan government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on social media that "the Afghans will give a fitting response" and accused Pakistan of committing a crime to divert attention from its own security failures. Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan's chargé d'affaires and lodged a formal protest, stating the strikes constituted "a clear violation of Afghanistan's national sovereignty and territorial integrity." The ministry categorically rejected Pakistani allegations that recent security incidents originate from Afghan soil.

UNAMA reported it has documented over 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan from cross-border violence so far this year, and called for respect for international humanitarian law to prevent further civilian casualties. The strikes threaten to complicate mediation efforts by regional powers, including China. Hundreds of people have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out earlier airstrikes inside Afghan territory.