Pakistani Shelling Kills Civilians in Afghan Border Provinces, Officials Say

Pakistani artillery and mortar fire targeted border areas in Afghanistan's Khost, Nuristan, Kunar and Paktika provinces over the past 24 hours, killing at least three civilians including two children and wounding several others, according to Taliban officials.

Mullah Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said four civilians were martyred and nine wounded in the attacks, with residential houses hit in Khost's Alisher, Zazi Maidan and Garbaz districts, resulting in women and children among the casualties. A house caught fire from artillery shells in Kunar's Nari district, while no casualties were reported in Paktika's Shakhin and Barmal districts despite dozens of mortar rounds fired at evacuated houses and facilities.

Mastaghfar Gurbaz, spokesman for the Taliban governor in Khost, reported that Pakistani shells struck homes in the Afghan-Dubai area of Spera district, killing two children and wounding two others, with several houses damaged or destroyed. Fitrat separately said one civilian was killed in Nuristan's Kamdesh district, where a house burned completely.

In retaliation for attacks in Kandahar, Afghanistan's air force struck a military camp in Wana, South Waziristan, targeting an SSG commandos building and other facilities, according to Enayatullah Khwarzmi, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement expressed concern over rising civilian casualties, including women and children, from airstrikes in populated Afghan areas, urging an end to clashes that disproportionately affect Pashtun communities on both sides of the border. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported around 75 civilians killed in recent clashes between Pakistani forces and Taliban fighters.

Cross-border tensions have escalated amid artillery exchanges, airstrikes and Pakistan's deportation of Afghan refugees into a deepening humanitarian crisis.