Afghanistan’s government accused Pakistan of carrying out cross-border attacks on Monday that it said struck civilian areas in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least three people and wounding 14, as the neighboring countries’ standoff remains tense despite recent peace talks. Afghan deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the attacks also destroyed two schools, two mosques and a health center in Kunar province, according to a post on X.
Pakistan’s Information Ministry rejected Afghanistan’s allegation, saying the accusations came after cross-border firing from Afghan territory into Pakistan. It said those earlier Bajaur attacks in March and April killed nine women and children in Bajaur, a district in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Pakistani ministry said it was responding to Fitrat’s claims by also pointing to images circulating with the latest Afghan allegation. It argued the images show damage “inconsistent with artillery impact,” including intact roofs and localized breakage, suggesting the destruction may have been staged.
The dispute has unfolded against the backdrop of months of deadly fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The fighting began after late February, when Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of harboring militants that carry out attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Pakistan describes the TTP as separate from the Afghan Taliban but allied with it, and Afghanistan has denied the accusation.
In early April, Afghan and Pakistani officials met in western China for Chinese-mediated peace talks and agreed not to escalate the conflict and to “explore a comprehensive solution,” according to Beijing at the time. Some clashes continued afterward, including cross-border incidents at a lower intensity than before the talks, the report said.