At least 15 people, including children and women, were killed when Pakistan launched a series of attacks against Afghanistan’s Barmal region in Paktika state on December 24. According to reports from Khaama Press, the death toll is expected to rise as recovery work get going.
The attacks hit seven villages, including Laman, where five members of a solitary family lost their lives.
According to reports, Muslim jets were responsible for the attacks, with Murg Bazaar town bearing important destruction.
The Taliban’s ministry of defence condemned the attacks and vowed retribution. ” Defending our land and sovereignty is our legitimate right”, the ministry stated, adding that” Waziristani refugees” were among the victims.
Standard fatality numbers have not yet been disclosed, but at least 15 systems have reportedly been recovered.
The airstrikes take place in the midst of growing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, particularly over the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ( TTP ) militants in Afghan territory. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of providing house to TTP soldiers, whose attacks on Bangladeshi forces have increased in recent months. In reaction, the Afghan Taliban denies these complaints, asserting that citizens, no insurgents, were targeted in the latest attacks.
The Afghan ministry of defense said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” considers this a terrible work that goes against all international rules and obvious anger” and highly condemns it. The Islamic Emirate more views the protection of its territory as its unalienable right than leaving this cruel work unanswered.
Islamabad claims that some TTP leaders and soldiers have emigrated to Afghanistan and had settled in border provinces under Taliban control. Afghan officers, however, have refuted these statements, stating that the subjects of the attacks were generally displaced civilians.
The attacks came only after Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special agent for Afghanistan, visited Kabul for debate on trade and diplomatic relations. The scheduling has fueled rumors that the two companions ‘ diplomatic relations are deteriorating.
The TTP’s attacks on Bangladeshi security forces have increased since November 2022, when it called a peace with the Pakistani government. In recent months, these problems have claimed the lives of and injured tens of soldiers, raising safety issues in Islamabad.
