Kabul, June 29: In yet another outrageous cross-border military action, Pakistan killed at least 36 and injured 163 civilians in Afghanistan by carrying out air strikes at various places last night.
Most of the dead and injured are children and women and the toll is likely to increase as many of the wounded are in critical condition, according to Afghan officials.
The Taliban regime of Afghanistan condemned the Pakistani action, saying the “cowardly act” was “crime and atrocity”.
The Afghan regime said civilian houses were hit in the Pakistani air strikes in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces last night.
“According to the reports available thus far, the attacks carried out last night resulted in the martyrdom of 36 civilians, including women and children, while 163 others sustained injuries,” said Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesperson of the Taliban regime, in a post on X at 11.20 AM (Afghanistan time).
Giving details, he said in Mandokhail Village of Paktia Province, Pakistani fighter jets bombed a civilian residence.
As a result, two persons — an elderly man and a child — from the household were killed while other members of the family sustained injuries, he said.
Subsequently, when local residents rushed there to conduct rescue operations, the area was bombed again, resulting in the killing of 28 villagers and injuries to 158 others, he said.
In Paktika Province, the house of a civilian was bombed in Walust village, Fitrat said.
Six individuals, mostly women and children, were killed here, he said.
Pakistan also bombed Barolo village in Kunar province in which a civilian house was completely destroyed, the Deputy Spokesperson said, adding there was no loss of life here.
Pakistani military also conducted ground operations in some areas of Afghanistan, according to the officials in Pakistan.
Pakistan has been repeatedly conducting airstrikes inside Afghanistan, ostensibly to target TTP bases but the victims have been civilians, mostly children and women.
After one such action on February 22, there was a major military escalation between the two neighbours, which went on for a month.
In a single airstrike in March, the Pakistani military hit a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, killing and injuring over 700 patients, doctors and other medical staff.
After that, earlier this month, Pakistani airstrikes killed 13 civilians, mostly children, in Afghanistan. (NVI)
