Pakistani Artillery Strikes Kill Civilians in Afghanistan's Kunar Province

Pakistani forces conducted artillery shelling and drone strikes on several districts in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province over the past 24 hours, killing at least one civilian and wounding others, according to local officials.

Zia-ur-Rahman Spinghar, spokesperson for the Kunar Information and Culture Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Pakistani troops fired 85 shells, carried out two drone strikes and launched 47 long-range projectiles. He said 16 shells struck Nari district, killing one civilian and wounding six others, while one civilian was killed and two wounded in Sarkano district. Shells also landed in Shultan, Manura and Asadabad districts without reported casualties.

The Kunar Information and Culture Directorate reported to Hurriyat that attacks hit Marawara, Sarkano, Shiltan and Naray districts, with 80 shells fired and two drone strikes, martyring two civilians and wounding eight others in Sarkano and Naray.

Faridullah Dehgan, spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Konar, told Amu TV that one civilian was killed and three wounded when a shell hit a house in the Pashangar area of Nar district.

In response, Afghan border forces destroyed three Pakistani posts and killed one soldier in the Nawpass area near Sarkano district, according to Spinghar and the Kunar directorate.

Pakistani officials have not commented on the incident.

The attacks mark the third border clash since Pakistan ended a unilateral temporary ceasefire, amid ongoing skirmishes between Afghan and Pakistani forces now in their fourth week. Both sides claim heavy casualties on the enemy, but United Nations reports indicate most victims have been civilians.