Pakistan carried out airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan early Monday, September 21, saying it hit three militant sites and killed 28 fighters and suicide bombers. Afghanistan's Taliban-run government said the attacks struck Kunar and Paktika provinces and killed three civilians from one family, while injuring four others. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan confirmed that a man, a woman and a girl died in apparent airstrikes in Kunar, but the competing claims about militant casualties could not be independently verified.
Pakistan's Information Ministry described the targets as hideouts, safe havens and a training center used by the Pakistani Taliban and affiliated groups. It said weapons and ammunition were destroyed and maintained that the operation was calibrated to limit harm to civilians. A Pakistani security official told Reuters that the strikes reached both Kunar and Paktika; Pakistan's military did not immediately issue its own detailed account.
Afghan officials gave a different description. Deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said a home in Kunar's Nurgal district was destroyed at about 3 a.m. local time, killing three members of the same family and wounding four. He said a shop and an empty house were damaged at two locations in Paktika. Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the raids, promised an appropriate response, and Kabul's Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan's chargé d'affaires to receive a formal protest.
The strikes followed several deadly attacks inside Pakistan. On Friday, militants attacked a police compound and mosque in Kohat, triggering a 20-hour battle that killed at least 21 people and wounded more than 100, according to AP. Reuters reported a toll of at least 24. Six Pakistani security personnel, including two officers, also died in fighting in nearby Hangu on Sunday. Pakistan blamed armed groups operating from Afghan territory, while Kabul has repeatedly denied sheltering anti-Pakistan militants.
The episode ended nearly three months of relative calm after intense fighting earlier in 2026. Islamabad has long accused Afghanistan's authorities of harboring Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is allied with but distinct from the Afghan Taliban. Kabul says Pakistan's militancy is an internal problem. UNAMA said it has documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries from cross-border violence in Afghanistan this year, underscoring the danger to communities along the frontier.
The conflicting accounts and Kabul's warning of a response raise the risk of renewed exchanges between the neighbors. Further fighting could also complicate mediation efforts involving regional powers including China. Immediate attention will focus on whether either government releases verifiable evidence about the targets and casualties, whether border forces mobilize, and whether diplomatic channels can contain the confrontation.
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