Pakistan airstrikes kill 13 including 11 children in Afghanistan

New Delhi: At least 13 civilians, including 11 children, were killed after Pakistan’s military carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces of Kunar, Khost and Paktika, according to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. The strikes have reignited tensions between the two neighbours, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered in March.

Mujahid said the Pakistani military violated Afghanistan’s airspace and targeted civilian on Tuesday night. Fourteen other people, mostly women and children, were injured in the attacks.

Pakistan, however, maintained that the operation targeted militant hideouts near the Afghan border. Pakistani information minister later said the military strikes killed at least 26 militants.

The latest strikes came days after India had condemned Pakistan’s military operations in Afghanistan at the United Nations security council (UNSC).

RNA Media reported that India’s permanent representative to the UN, Harish Parvathaneni, said during a UNSC discussion on Afghanistan on Monday that Pakistan’s military operations had caused significant civilian suffering and threatened regional stability.

According to data from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama), “hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured in Pakistani military operations during the first three months of 2026.”

Parvathaneni called restrictions on Afghan transit trade through Pakistan “trade and transit terrorism”, He argued that such actions violated international obligations toward landlocked countries.

The current round of fighting began in late February after Pakistan accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militants from the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which Islamabad says is responsible for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Since then, both sides have exchanged cross-border strikes and accusations, leading to hundreds of casualties. A temporary ceasefire was brokered by China in March, but the truce has struggled to hold, with fresh military operations repeatedly reigniting tensions.

Hamid Karzai condemns Pakistan

Former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the airstrikes, accusing Pakistan of continuing a policy of hostility toward Afghanistan.

Expressing solidarity with the victims’ families, Karzai said Pakistan must recognize the consequences of its actions and abandon what he described as a “policy of war and destruction.”

“Pakistan is grappling with the consequences of its ill-considered policies and hostile actions in the region,” Karzai wrote on X. He added that Islamabad’s interests would be better served through good neighbourly relations rather than military confrontation.

The Taliban administration also denounced the strikes as a humanitarian crime and an act of aggression against Afghan civilians.