AFP, Tsamkanī

Pakistani airstrikes killed dozens of people in eastern Afghanistan, with Islamabad saying yesterday it targeted militants but the Afghan government reporting civilian casualties.

The strikes are the latest flare-up of violence between the neighbours whose relationship has been fraught since 2021, when the Taliban government took power in Kabul, and follow a weeks-long war that erupted in February.

Pakistan’s information minister said the operations killed 25 militants and were aimed at a group that it blames for a deadly weekend attack in Karachi, although Afghan authorities have repeatedly denied their territory harbours militants.

The Taliban government said the airstrikes hit three eastern provinces, killing 36 civilians and wounding 163. “When local residents gathered to conduct rescue operations, the area was bombed for a second time” in Paktia province, deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said.

Pakistan’s information minister said the offensive also included ground operations in border areas and targeted Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“Three targets in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed during precision strikes,” information minister Attaullah Tarar said. He said four militants were also killed in ground operations. The neighbours agreed to a ceasefire in March but there have been sporadic attacks since, with Pakistani strikes in June killing 13 people, according to Afghan officials.