Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan kill 13: Taleban official

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 10, (AP): Afghanistan said Wednesday that Pakistan launched new airstrikes targeting the country, killing at least 13 people and wounding 14 others, in a further sign of rising tensions between the two neighbors after months of fighting that has killed hundreds. Though the situation along the border was calm hours after the strikes, Kabul has previously responded to Pakistani strikes by targeting Pakistani posts along the frontier.

Taleban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the latest airstrikes targeted the Afghan provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika and killed 11 children, one woman and one elderly man. There was no immediate acknowledgment of the strikes deep inside Afghanistan from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or military.

The strikes came a day after suspected Pakistani Taleban militants attacked a security post in the Hasan Khel area of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, triggering an intense gunbattle in which six members of the Federal Constabulary were killed and several others wounded, according to Pakistan’s Interior Ministry.

Local authorities said Tuesday that security forces killed eight of the attackers and thwarted an attempt to overrun the checkpoint. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi later attended funeral prayers for the dead personnel in Peshawar, the ministry said. Naqvi paid tribute to the dead and expressed condolences to their families, saying their sacrifices would not be forgotten.

He also said Pakistan remained united in its fight against militancy and that operations against groups threatening peace and security would be intensified. Pakistan and Afghanistan have engaged in deadly fighting since late February, when Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.

Pakistan in February declared it was in open war with its Afghanistan, following a surge in militant attacks on civilians and security forces inside Pakistan. Afghanistan has said a deadly Pakistani airstrikes in March hit a drug-treatment center in Kabul, killing more than 400 people. The death toll could not be independently confirmed.

Pakistan has disputed the claim and denied targeting civilians, saying it struck an ammunition depot. The latest development comes months after China hosted peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Urumqi, in northern China, and later Beijing said Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed not to escalate their conflict and to explore a solution. Authorities in Pakistan have said that Beijing and some other friendly countries were still encouraging both sides to reach an agreement for durable peace.