KABUL-ISLAMABAD, June 29. /Dunyo IA/. At least 36 people were killed and 163 others injured after Pakistani military airstrikes targeted eastern Afghanistan, reports Dunyo IA correspondent, citing Afghanistan’s Bakhtar News Agency.

The strikes were carried out overnight on Sunday (June 28) in the border provinces of Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar, which border Pakistan. According to reports, the victims included civilians, among them women and children, while three houses were destroyed.

The Islamic Emirate condemned what it described as Pakistan’s “renewed military aggression against Afghan territory.” It also said that previous Pakistani airstrikes had “deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure, including schools, mosques, hospitals, and residential homes,” resulting in numerous civilian casualties.

According to the statement, the latest offensive has sparked widespread public reaction both inside Afghanistan and internationally. It added that the UN and several international organizations have called for an independent investigation, describing the strikes as “potential war crimes and serious violations of international law.

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said the military operation targeted the banned militant groups Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) in areas along the Afghan border. According to the minister, 29 militants involved in numerous attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces were killed.

The latest escalation comes weeks after a suicide bomber attacked a passenger train in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province in late May, killing at least 24 people and injuring around 70 others. The train was carrying members of Pakistan’s security forces and their families.

Photo credit: Xinhua