Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan kill at least 13 people

Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighbourhood map.

KABUL, Afghanistan, jun 10 (AP/UNB) — Afghanistan said Wednesday that Pakistan launched new airstrikes targeting the country, killing at least 13 people and wounding 14 others.

Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced the airstrikes, which he said targeted the Afghan provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika. He said the strikes killed 11 children, one woman and one elderly man.

There was no immediate acknowledgment of the strikes from Pakistan.

Pakistan and Afghanistan had been embroiled in months of deadly fighting that killed hundreds of people since late February, when Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. The group is separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan since it seized power in the country in 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies the charge.