Kabul, October 19: Afghanistan accused Pakistan of violating a two-day ceasefire by launching air strikes late on Friday that killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 12 others in the country’s southeast, a Taliban official said, warning that Kabul “will retaliate.”
The strikes hit three locations in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, ending a 48-hour truce that had brought rare calm to the border after nearly a week of deadly clashes that killed dozens of troops and civilians on both sides.
“Pakistan has broken the ceasefire and bombed three locations in Paktika,” a senior Taliban official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “Afghanistan will retaliate.” A provincial hospital official, also speaking anonymously, said two children were among those killed in the overnight strikes.
The border fighting erupted last week following explosions in Kabul that coincided with the Taliban foreign minister’s visit to India. The Taliban then launched an offensive along parts of the southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to respond with air and artillery attacks.
The truce began at 1300 GMT on Wednesday, with Pakistan announcing it would last 48 hours, while Kabul said it would remain in place until violated.
Before the latest escalation, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused the Taliban of “acting as a proxy of India” and plotting against Pakistan. “Wherever the source of terrorism is, it will have to pay a heavy price,” Asif said in a post on X.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said Islamabad had repeatedly shared concerns with Kabul over the presence of militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), on Afghan soil, and demanded “concrete and verifiable actions” against them.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Taliban forces had been ordered not to attack unless Pakistani troops opened fire first, but maintained that Afghanistan had the right to defend itself. The Taliban has denied harbouring TTP fighters.
Just before the ceasefire expired, a suicide bombing and gun attack on a Pakistani paramilitary camp in North Waziristan killed seven troops. A TTP faction claimed responsibility for the assault. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said at least 37 people had been killed and 425 wounded on the Afghan side of the border in recent days, urging both countries to avoid further escalation.
An AFP correspondent in the frontier town of Spin Boldak said hundreds of people attended funerals on Thursday, including for children. Residents described a tense calm, fearing the fighting could resume at any moment. The renewed hostilities threaten to further strain relations between Kabul and Islamabad, already frayed over cross-border militancy and mutual accusations of supporting insurgent groups.
