Pakistan Airstrikes Near Border Kill Afghan Civilians, Escalate Tensions with Kabul

Islamabad/Kabul, Feb 2026 : Several Afghan civilians were killed and many others injured after Pakistan carried out airstrikes on areas along the volatile border shared by Pakistan and Afghanistan, sharply escalating already strained relations between the two neighbours. Afghan authorities alleged that the strikes hit residential areas, while Islamabad insisted the operation targeted militant hideouts responsible for recent deadly attacks inside Pakistan.

According to officials in Kabul, the bombardment struck civilian locations in eastern Afghanistan, resulting in significant loss of life. Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that dozens of people were killed or wounded in the strikes. “Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children,” he said in a post on X, condemning the operation as an attack on non-combatants.

Islamabad, however, rejected the accusation of targeting civilians. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed the airstrikes, describing them as “intelligence-based selective targeting” aimed at seven camps allegedly belonging to the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliated groups operating from Afghan territory. He said the strikes were carried out in response to a series of suicide attacks inside Pakistan that authorities blame on militants based across the border.

Tarar also said that one of the targets was an alleged affiliate of the Islamic State group, which had claimed responsibility for a recent mosque attack in Islamabad. That attack killed 31 people and injured more than 160, making it one of the deadliest assaults in the Pakistani capital since the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing. Pakistani officials have cited the incident as evidence of an urgent and growing security threat emanating from militant networks across the border.

In a separate statement, the Pakistani Army said it had repeatedly urged the Afghan Taliban authorities to take “verifiable and decisive action” to prevent Afghan soil from being used by terrorist groups and foreign proxies to launch attacks against Pakistan. According to the statement, those requests went unheeded. “Despite repeated efforts, the Afghan Taliban regime failed to undertake any substantive action against them,” the army said.

The military added that Pakistan remained committed to regional peace and stability but stressed that the safety of its citizens was non-negotiable. “In this backdrop, Pakistan, in a retributive response, has carried out intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to the Pakistani Taliban of FAK and its affiliates and ISKP at the Pakistan-Afghan border with precision and accuracy,” the statement said.

Tensions between the two countries have steadily worsened since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Since then, bilateral ties have been marked by frequent border clashes, diplomatic strains, and mounting civilian casualties on both sides. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of harbouring or tolerating militant groups that carry out cross-border attacks, a charge the Taliban government has consistently denied.

Afghan authorities maintain that they do not allow their territory to be used for attacks against neighbouring countries and have accused Pakistan of violating Afghan sovereignty through military action. The latest airstrikes risk deepening mistrust and could further destabilise an already fragile border region, raising concerns among observers about the potential for a wider escalation if diplomatic channels fail to contain the fallout.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)