Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, says Kabul

Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border region of Afghanistan killed 46 civilians, the Taliban government said on Wednesday, whilst a Pakistan security official said the bombardment had targeted "terrorist hideouts".

The strikes were the latest spike in hostilities on the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with tensions escalating since the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that late on Tuesday Pakistan bombarded four areas in the Barmal district of eastern Paktika province.

"The total number of dead is 46, most of whom were children and women," he said, adding that six more people were wounded, mostly children.

Neither Pakistan's foreign ministry nor its military have responded to a request for comment.

But a senior Pakistan security official said the strikes were on "terrorist hideouts" using jets and drones and that they killed at least 20 militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the country's homegrown Taliban group.

"Arguments from Afghan officials claiming civilians are being harmed are baseless and misleading," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A Taliban defence ministry statement late Tuesday condemned the strikes, calling them "barbaric" and a "clear aggression".

"The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered, but rather considers the defence of its territory and sovereignty to be its inalienable right," the statement said, using the Taliban authorities' name for the government.

Skirmishes on the frontier followed deadly air strikes in March by Pakistan's military in the border regions of Afghanistan, which Taliban authorities said killed eight civilians.

A Barmal resident, Maleel, told AFP Tuesday's strikes killed 18 members of one family.

"The bombardment hit two or three houses, in one house, 18 people were killed, the whole family lost their lives," he said.

He said a strike killed three people in another house and wounded several others, who were taken to hospital.

Taliban officials said the dead were local residents and people who had fled over the Pakistan border from the Waziristan region.

North Waziristan, which borders Paktika, has historically been a hive of militancy and was the target of a long-running Pakistani military offensive and US drone strikes during the post-9/11 occupation of Afghanistan that saw many people flee over the border.

The TTP in a statement on the strike claimed Pakistan "deliberately targeted refugee residences".