Pakistan carries out airstrikes in Paktika and Nangarhar provinces

Pakistani aircraft conducted airstrikes late Saturday night targeting areas in Paktika and Nangarhar provinces, with the Taliban reporting at least 17 civilian deaths in Behsud district of Nangarhar.

Quraishi Badlon, Taliban information chief in Nangarhar, stated that the strikes around midnight hit parts of Khogyani, Ghani Khil and Behsud districts in Nangarhar, as well as Barmal district in Paktika. Local sources cited by Hasht-e Subh reported 23 people, including women and children, buried under rubble in Behsud after a house was hit, while Pajhwok referenced about 20 family members killed in Gardi Kach village. Some reports also mentioned strikes in Khost province and targets including a mosque, cattle farm and school in Paktika.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the strikes targeted hideouts of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province in response to recent suicide and car bomb attacks in Islamabad, Bajur and Bannu during Ramadan, which those groups claimed.

The Taliban Ministry of Defense condemned the strikes as attacks on civilian and religious sites, calling them evidence of Pakistani intelligence failures, and vowed a "calculated response" at an appropriate time. Afghanistan's permanent mission to the United Nations stated Afghan people are victims of terrorism and urged principled counter-terrorism aligned with international law, while calling for a legitimate, inclusive government.

Former President Hamid Karzai described the strikes as a "clear violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty" and urged Pakistan to pursue good neighborly relations. Abdullah Abdullah, former High Peace Council head, condemned them as undermining sovereignty and worsening crisis, advocating dialogue over violence. The International Human Rights Foundation condemned the attacks on civilians as violations of international humanitarian law and demanded prompt, independent international investigations.

Afghanistan International noted this as at least the sixth such deadly Pakistani strike since the Taliban's 2021 return to power, listing prior incidents in 2022, 2024 and 2025 with dozens of reported civilian casualties, amid Islamabad's accusations of Afghan Taliban sheltering TTP, which they deny.