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Pakistan carried out airstrikes on seven sites in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan overnight Sunday, Feb. 22, targeting militant hideouts in retaliation for recent suicide bombings, while Afghan authorities reported dozens of civilians killed and wounded, including children.
"Pakistan, in a retributive response, has carried out intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to the Pakistani Taliban of Fitna al Khwarij and its affiliates and the Islamic State of Khorsan Province at the border region," Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MOIB) said.
The strikes came "in the aftermath of recent suicide bombing incidents in Pakistan," the ministry added.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attacks, saying Pakistani forces "bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children."
"Pakistani generals are compensating for security weaknesses in their own country through such crimes," Mujahid wrote on X.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist in Nangarhar's Behsud district saw people using a bulldozer to search for victims under the rubble following the strikes.
"Twelve children and teenagers were among 17 people killed when a house was targeted in Behsud," an Afghan security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Nangarhar Police spokesperson Sayed Tayyeb Hammad said 23 members of a family were trapped under rubble after a civilian home was hit in Behsud district. Four people have been rescued, with search and rescue operations ongoing.
TOLOnews reported that strikes also hit Ghani Khel and Khogyani districts in Nangarhar province, as well as Barmal and Urgun districts in Paktika province. Security sources said no casualties were recorded in the Barmal and Urgun strikes.
The outlet's Pashtu version reported that a religious gathering was struck in Barmal district.
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said it would meet the strikes with an "appropriate and measured response" at a "suitable time."
The ministry condemned the attacks "in the strongest possible terms," describing them as a "clear violation of national sovereignty, international law, principles of good neighborliness, and Islamic values."
"Targeting civilian and religious centers demonstrates the Pakistani military's intelligence and security shortcomings. Such repeated acts of aggression will never be able to conceal their internal shortcomings," the ministry said.
Pakistan said the strikes were carried out in response to a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other recent suicide bombings in northwest Pakistan.
Terrorist group Daesh claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160—the deadliest attack on Islamabad since 2008.
Pakistan vowed to avenge the killing of two security personnel Saturday, Feb. 21, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, warning it would not allow any attack launched from Afghanistan to go unanswered.
"Pakistan expects and reiterates the Interim Afghan Government to fulfill its obligations and deny use of its soil by Khwarij and terrorists against Pakistan, as the safety and security of the people of Pakistan comes first and foremost," the ministry added.
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The overnight attacks were the most extensive since border clashes in October killed more than 70 people on both sides and wounded hundreds.
That violence ended with a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Türkiye, but several subsequent rounds of talks in Doha and Istanbul have failed to produce a lasting deal.
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