Following a raid in Pakistan’s Waziristan region last week, alleged insurgent camps were reportedly targeted in retaliatory airstrikes.
In response to deadly airstrikes believed to have been conducted by Pakistan this week, following an insurgent attack on its territory, the Afghan military has vowed retribution.
According to a Taliban government spokesperson in Kabul, Tuesday’s air raid in Paktika province killed 46 people, primarily women and children. Hamdullah Fitrat stated on Wednesday that four locations in the Barmal district were targeted.
Islamabad has yet to officially respond to these claims. On Tuesday, the Associated Press, citing unnamed Pakistani military sources, confirmed attacks on several Pakistani Taliban (TTP) hideouts in a mountainous region of Paktika. A Reuters source similarly identified the TTP, a group distinct from Afghanistan’s Taliban, as the target.
The Afghan Defense Ministry asserted that the victims were refugees from Pakistan’s Waziristan region. The ministry condemned the incident as a “barbaric act” and “clear aggression,” vowing that Kabul “will not let this act of cowardice go unanswered.”
These airstrikes occurred shortly after Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, concluded talks with Afghan officials in Kabul. Afghanistan’s foreign ministry, which filed a formal complaint with Islamabad’s ambassador on Wednesday, contrasted this diplomatic engagement with the alleged actions of the Pakistani military.
Last week, the TTP killed 17 Pakistani soldiers in Southern Waziristan, according to local officials. The Pakistani military reported on Wednesday that security forces eliminated 13 insurgents in the same area.