The Taliban government in Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of carrying out deadly airstrikes that killed nine children and one woman in the early hours of Tuesday morning, marking a significant escalation in border tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
Deadly Overnight Airstrikes
According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the official spokesperson for Afghanistan's de facto government, Pakistani military jets targeted a residential home in the Gerbzwo district of Khost province around midnight. The attack completely destroyed the house of local civilian Wilayat Khan, claiming the lives of ten family members including five boys and four girls alongside one woman.
Mujahid shared photographs on social media platform X that purportedly showed the victims of the attack. He further stated that additional Pakistani air raids struck provinces of Kunar and Paktika, leaving at least four civilians injured. The Pakistani government has not yet issued an official statement regarding these allegations.
Peshawar Security Base Attack
Kabul's accusations come just one day after a major security incident in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that shares a border with Afghanistan. Three security personnel were killed and eleven others injured when attackers attempted to storm the headquarters of the Federal Constabulary, Pakistan's paramilitary police force.
Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmad provided details of the assault, explaining that two suicide bombers and an armed accomplice tried to breach the security installation. One detonated his explosives at the gate while security forces neutralised the second bomber and gunman near a vehicle park before they could reach their intended target.
"The terrorists involved in today's attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area," Ahmad told the Associated Press. "A timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy."
Escalating Border Tensions
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the Peshawar attack, though Islamabad frequently attributes such acts of terrorism to the Pakistani Taliban, known formally as Tehrik-e-Taliban. While ideologically aligned with Afghanistan's Taliban government, the groups remain operationally distinct.
Pakistan consistently alleges that Afghan territory provides safe haven for militant groups targeting Pakistani interests, accusations that Kabul repeatedly denies. These mutual suspicions have driven a sharp deterioration in relations throughout this year.
In October, soldiers from both nations clashed along their shared border in the most serious fighting since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul during 2021. Although a ceasefire was subsequently agreed in Qatar, subsequent negotiations in Turkey collapsed over Pakistan's insistence that the Taliban government take action against anti-Pakistan militant groups operating from Afghan soil.
The Afghan Taliban government has previously accused Pakistan of conducting drone strikes within its territory, most recently in early October, and has warned that such operations would provoke retaliation. This latest incident represents a significant escalation in both rhetoric and military action between the two neighbours.
