Peshawar: Pakistan’s airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children, a Taliban government official said on Wednesday, raising fears of further straining the relations between the two neighbours.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, said those killed in the strikes that targeted four locations in Barmal, a district in the province of Paktika, were refugees, adding that six others were also wounded.
This comes a day after Pakistani security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, told The Associated Press that Tuesday’s operation was to dismantle a training facility and kill insurgents in Paktika in Afghanistan.
Earlier Wednesday, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed in a statement that 50 people, including 27 women and children, have died in the strikes. He said they were “unarmed refugees” who fled to Afghanistan because of Pakistan’s offensive in the northwest.
The TTP — a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban — also shared photos, alleging they were of children killed during the Pakistani operation.
The strikes came hours after Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, travelled to Kabul to discuss a range of issues.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul summoned the Pakistani envoy and lodged a strong protest over the strikes by Pakistan’s army.
In a statement, it said while a representative of the civilian government of
Pakistan was busy in talks with the Afghan officials, the strikes were carried out by the Pakistani army to “create mistrust in the relations between the two countries”.
It said Kabul “will not accept the violation of the country’s territory under any circumstances, and the country is ready to defend its independence and territory” and “such irresponsible actions will definitely have consequences”.
Meanwhile, residents in the area told an AP reporter over the phone that at least 13 people were left dead, adding that the death toll could
be higher.