Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict escalates again after airstrikes kill at least 13 people

Pakistani airstrikes killed at least 13 people, including 11 children, in Afghanistan on Wednesday, renewing hostilities between the neighbours.

The two nations have engaged in months of fighting that has already killed hundreds of people and displaced many more.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the latest airstrikes targeted the provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika, and killed 11 children, one woman and an elderly man.

There was no immediate acknowledgment of the strikes from Pakistan.

Though the situation along the border has been calm since the strikes, Kabul has previously responded to Pakistani strikes by targeting the neighbour’s posts along their frontier.

The border has remained closed to bilateral trade since October last year.

The strikes came a day after suspected Pakistani Taliban militants attacked a security post in the Hasan Khel area of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, triggering an intense gunbattle in which six personnel of the Federal Constabulary were killed and many wounded, according to Pakistan’s interior ministry.

Authorities said on Tuesday that security forces killed eight of the attackers and thwarted an attempt to overrun the checkpoint.

Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi later attended funeral prayers for the dead personnel in Peshawar. Mr Naqvi paid tribute to the dead and expressed condolences to their families, saying that their sacrifices would not be forgotten.

He also said Pakistan remained united in its fight against militancy and that operations against groups threatening peace and security would be intensified.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have engaged in deadly fighting since late February, when Afghan forces launched a cross-border attack in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes.

Pakistan later declared it was in open war with Afghanistan, following a surge in militant attacks on civilians and security forces inside the country.

In March, Afghanistan said a deadly Pakistani airstrike hit a drug-treatment centre in Kabul, killing more than 400 people. The death toll could not be independently confirmed.

Pakistan disputed the claim and denied targeting civilians, saying it struck an ammunition depot.

The latest strikes came months after China hosted peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Urumqi. Beijing later said the two sides had agreed not to escalate the conflict and explore a solution.

Authorities in Pakistan said Beijing and other friendly countries were still encouraging both sides to reach an agreement for durable peace.

Masood Khan, a security analyst based in Islamabad, said Pakistan’s priority was ending attacks by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, which was suspected of operating from Afghan soil.

Mr Khan said the solution to the tension lay in enforcing a decree by Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada ordering the Pakistani Taliban to stop attacks in the neighbouring country.

“That decree must be implemented sincerely and faithfully,” he said.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants that carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban. The group is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban, which rules Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegation.