The United Nations said on Thursday that 13 civilians were killed in airstrikes this week in eastern Afghanistan, as Pakistan claims that it was targeting militant camps along the long border between the countries.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a statement on the social media platform X that it “documented 13 civilian deaths and 10 injuries, mainly children and women, from airstrikes carried out in Khost, Kunar, and Paktika provinces,” in airstrikes on the night spanning June 9 and 10.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban government, condemned the attack as an “act of aggression” in a statement on X.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry, Tahir Andrabi, told reporters that the strikes targeted militants whom Pakistan blamed for three earlier attacks, and that he was not immediately familiar with the U.N.’s findings.
“As for allegations of civilian casualties, we would also need to understand the methodology used to assess them,” he said, and called the strikes “precise and targeted” at hide-outs and militant camps.
The two nations have been trading attacks since February, when Pakistan launched a sweeping first wave of airstrikes and declared “open war” against its neighbor, whom it has accused of supporting terrorism in Pakistan.
Officials in Afghanistan’s Taliban government have acknowledged that some Afghan militants are joining the group responsible for most of the violence in Pakistan, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or T.T.P. But they say that while they share ideological ties with the T.T.P., they can’t control its leadership and deny hosting or facilitating the group.
Afghanistan has responded to Pakistani airstrikes with drone attacks and border raids, and the Taliban government has repeatedly accused Pakistan of targeting civilian areas, most recently a university campus in the country’s east on May 27.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan “reiterates its call for de-escalation, a durable cease-fire, protection of civilians, reopening of border crossings, particularly for humanitarian assistance, and dialogue to resolve differences,” the U.N. mission said a statement.
People in Khost Province described waking up in the early hours of Wednesday to the sound of aircraft, followed by a loud explosion.
Safiullah Zadran, a resident of a village that was struck, said in a phone interview that he saw thick, black smoke rising from the house of a farmer nearby.
Mr. Zadran said the farmer, along with six children, his wife and niece, had all been killed.
“We spent the remainder of the night outside our homes and in agricultural fields, fearing further airstrikes. We really don’t know what else is happening to us,” Mr. Zadran said.
While the scale of violence seemed to ease after peace talks mediated by China in April, persistent fighting has caused civilian casualties on a nearly weekly basis.
