Things got tense again along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Sunday. Pakistan launched airstrikes and ground raids, saying they were going after militant hideouts.
Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the air force hit three spots in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar. About 25 militants were killed and a lot of weapons were taken out, he added. On the ground in Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four more fighters tied to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar were killed. The TTP also confirmed one of its commanders, Khan Ferosh, aka Zabul, died in that operation.
Kabul tells a different story. Afghan government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said 38 civilians died and 163 were hurt, women and children included. He pointed to one house in Paktia where a jet strike killed 28 people and injured 158. A local official said people were pulling the injured out when another strike hit. One resident put it plainly: “Everyone was asleep when the planes came. Children, women, men, elders — they were all inside.”
Afghanistan’s Deputy Information Minister, Mohajer Farahi, warned the strike “will be avenged when the time is right.”
This wasn’t the first time this month. It was Pakistan’s second air operation across the border. Islamabad says militants are using Afghan areas to attack inside Pakistan. Kabul denies it and calls it Pakistan’s own problem. The two sides had their worst clash in years back in February.
UNAMA, the UN mission in Afghanistan, reported at least 28 civilians killed and 49 injured. They said the numbers could go up as hospitals treat more of the wounded.
Final Thought
Right now it feels like both sides are talking past each other. Pakistan says it can’t sit still while attacks keep coming across the border. Afghanistan says innocent people are dying and is talking about payback. Without some real talks, this is probably going to keep repeating. And like always, it’s ordinary families on both sides who end up paying for it. The question is who steps in before this gets worse.
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