Pakistan launched attacks in Afghanistan on the night of Monday to Tuesday, November 25, killing at least ten people, including nine children in the border region, amid high tensions between the two neighbors.
“Last night, around midnight (…) in Khost province, Pakistani troops bombed the house of a civilian (…) Nine children (five boys and four girls) and one girl were killed”wrote Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in X. He reported other attacks in the Kunar and Paktika regions, also in the east of the country, leaving four people injured.
This comes amid tensions with Islamabad and a day after a suicide attack on the headquarters of Pakistani security forces in a province bordering Afghanistan, which was not immediately claimed. The author “will be discovered and punished”assured Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reiterating his wishes “to eradicate terrorism”while state television channel PTV reported that it believed the attackers were the perpetrators “Afghan citizen”.
On November 11, another attack in front of a court in Islamabad left twelve people dead and dozens injured and was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who share the same ideology as the Taliban who regained power in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad later accused a “terrorist cell” has occurred “led and guided at every stage by the Afghanistan-based high command”.
About 70 people died in October clashes
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which have deteriorated since the return of the Taliban to power in Kabul, have recently soured over recurring security and migration issues.
After armed confrontations of rare intensity in October, which left around 70 people dead, the two countries met for several rounds of talks, resulting in a ceasefire. However, this is fragile and its form is still unclear because, despite the mediation of Qatar and Türkiye, Kabul and Islamabad have not succeeded in making it happen, and have instead encountered security problems.
Islamabad, facing renewed attacks on its security forces, has tirelessly blamed its neighbor, Afghanistan, for the attacks “to take refuge” group “terrorist”led by the Pakistani Taliban.
Kabul, which denies this, at the same time accuses Pakistan of harboring armed groups hostile to it and believes that attacks on Pakistani security forces are an internal problem in the neighboring country, which they cannot control. The 2,600 km border has been closed since October 12, blocking vital bilateral trade.
