Dozens killed in Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan as Taliban vows retaliation
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Airstrike reportedly aimed at training facility to kill insurgents in region bordering Afghanistan. A Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan’s Paktika province reportedly killed at least 46 people, mostly civilians, including children, according to Afghan Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat.
Six more people, mostly children were wounded in the region, Mr Fitrat said, according to AFP. “Barmal district of Paktika was bombed by the Pakistan Army late today. Most of civilians whom are Waziristani refugees, were targeted, and a number of civilians including children were martyred and injured,” the Afghani ministry of defence said in a statement.
Security officials, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the airstrike targeted a training facility in Paktika province, bordering Afghanistan, with the aim of killing insurgents. Local residents told the AP that at least 13 people were killed, adding that the toll could be even higher.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed a toll of 50 people, including 27 women and children. The TTP is a separate group and a close ally of the Afghan Taliban that seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and Nato troops withdrew from the country after 20 years of war.
