Kabul: At least 15 people, including women and children, were killed in a series of Pakistani air strikes on Barmal district in Afghanistan’s Paktika province late Sunday night, local sources said. The death toll is expected to rise as search and recovery efforts continue in the affected areas.
According to reports, seven villages were targeted in the attacks, with the most serious destruction reported in Murg Bazar and Laman. According to Khama Press, five members of the same family were murdered in Laman. Eyewitnesses claim the bombings were carried out by Pakistani jets, destroying vital infrastructure and exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region.
In a statement, Afghanistan’s defense ministry condemned the airstrikes, calling them an attack on “Waziristani refugees” and vowing to retaliate. “It is our legitimate right to defend our land and sovereignty,” the ministry declared. Ministry spokesman Inayatullah Khwarezmi posted on Twitter that several children and civilians were killed or injured in the attack.
Pakistani officials have not officially acknowledged the attacks, but sources close to the military suggested that they were targeted at Taliban positions near the border. The attacks follow heightened tensions between the two countries over the presence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, within Afghan territory.