Residents stroll via the rubble after what Taliban officers mentioned have been Pakistani airstrikes a day earlier that killed civilians, together with kids, within the village of Mandokhail, Chamkani district, Paktia province, Afghanistan, Monday, June 29, 2026.
Saifullah Zahir/AP
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Pakistani forces’ floor operations and strikes killed at the least 36 civilians in Afghanistan in a single day and wounded greater than 160 others, Afghan officers mentioned Monday, as tensions between the neighbors escalated. One Afghan official mentioned the assaults could be met with retaliation.
Pakistan mentioned the operations have been launched in response to militant assaults throughout Pakistan. Safety forces carried out a floor operation alongside the border late Sunday, adopted by strikes towards militant hideouts and secure havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan’s Data Minister Attaullah Tarar mentioned.
Afghanistan condemned the strikes in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces as a “cowardly act of aggression” and an “act of brutality.” Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the deputy minister for publications on the Ministry of Data and Tradition, mentioned Afghanistan would reply “in due time.”
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, mentioned Pakistani forces focused a house in Paktia’s Chamkani district, killing an older man and a toddler, whereas different relations have been wounded. When residents gathered to rescue individuals, the realm was struck once more, killing 28 villagers and wounding 158, he mentioned.
Six individuals, largely ladies and kids, have been killed in a village in Giyan district, Paktika province, when one other residence was struck, he mentioned. A civilian residence in Kunar province was additionally hit, inflicting no casualties however killing some 30 livestock.
Pakistani officers mentioned an uneasy calm prevailed alongside the border Monday, with safety forces remaining on excessive alert.
Envoys are summoned over the assaults
On Monday, Afghanistan and Pakistan summoned one another’s prime diplomats to protest the assaults.
Zia Ahmad Takal, the Afghanistan Overseas Ministry’s deputy spokesperson, accused Islamabad of repeatedly blaming Afghanistan for safety incidents inside Pakistan with out “credible evidence.”
Pakistan’s habits “seriously harms the atmosphere of trust between the two countries, good neighborly relations and the security and stability of the region,” Takal mentioned.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned it summoned Afghanistan’s prime diplomat in Islamabad to protest the involvement of Afghan nationals in latest assaults, together with one in Karachi over the weekend.
Militant assaults focusing on Pakistan’s police and safety forces have surged lately. Authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and allied militant teams for a lot of the violence. The Pakistani Taliban are separate from however allied with the Afghan Taliban that returned to energy in 2021.
Tarar, the Pakistani info minister, shared three movies on X that he mentioned confirmed projectiles hanging sprawling camps and secure havens of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khawarij in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces. Tarar mentioned the in a single day strikes killed “terrorists” and destroyed weapons and ammunition stockpiles.
Pakistan makes use of the phrase “Khawarij” to discuss with Indian-backed Pakistani Taliban and different militants. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban.
Tarar mentioned Pakistan’s counter-terrorism marketing campaign “will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
India, nevertheless, denied any involvement, with Overseas Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling the statements “baseless allegations.” Pakistan ought to “look inwards, take credible action against the terror infrastructure on its territory,” he mentioned.
The stays of a destroyed home are seen after what Taliban officers mentioned have been Pakistani airstrikes a day earlier that killed civilians, together with kids, within the village of Mandokhail, Chamkani district, Paktia province, Afghanistan, Monday, June 29, 2026.
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Pakistan launches operation after assault in Karachi
The Pakistani safety operation adopted a militant assault focusing on the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi that killed three troopers. Safety forces killed three attackers and arrested one other assailant, whom the army recognized as a wounded Afghan nationwide.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed duty for the Karachi assault.
Officers in Pakistan claimed one Afghan suspect was captured following the assault, saying that “Afghan soil and Afghan nationals continue to be used to orchestrate terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.” Police later launched the assertion of the wounded Afghan detainee, who mentioned the Karachi assault was deliberate by Jamaat‑ul‑Ahrar, although it was unclear if the confession was made below duress.
Sunday’s cross-border strikes and floor operation got here lower than three weeks after Pakistan’s army launched airstrikes on what it mentioned have been militant hideouts in Afghanistan. They ended a few month of relative calm following what Islamabad had described as an “open war” between the neighboring nations, regardless of worldwide efforts to dealer an enduring peace.
The escalation follows months of army motion. A whole bunch of individuals have been killed in cross-border preventing since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory.
A number of rounds of talks have did not safe an enduring ceasefire. China hosted the 2 sides in April and Beijing later mentioned Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to not escalate their battle and to discover an answer.
