The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has confirmed that at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 others injured in Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktya, Paktika and Kunar provinces on Sunday evening, with women and children among the victims.
UNAMA said the figures were preliminary and could rise as hospitals continued to treat the injured.
According to the mission, the deadliest strike took place at around 11.30pm local time in Chamkani district of Paktya province, where at least 22 civilians were killed and 47 others injured.
“At around the same time, in Paktika province, Gyan district, a further airstrike killed six civilians; a third airstrike, in Kunar province, Marawara district, injured two children,” UNAMA said.
The mission said it was continuing verification work on the incidents and called for respect for international humanitarian law. It said the principles of “precaution, distinction and proportionality” must be respected to protect civilians from harm.
Afghan authorities had earlier given a higher toll.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban government’s deputy spokesperson, said Pakistani strikes in three eastern provinces had killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 others.
“The attacks carried out last night resulted in the martyrdom of 36 civilians, including women and children, while 163 others sustained injuries,” Fitrat said in a post on X on Monday.
A doctor in Paktya told BBC Pashto that more than 40 injured people had been brought to hospitals following the strikes. Afghan authorities said they were continuing to assess casualties in remote areas where access remained limited.
Another Taliban government spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, condemned the military action as a “cowardly act of aggression”.
In a post on X, Mujahid said Pakistani military aircraft had struck civilian areas in Gyan district of Paktika, Tsamkani district of Paktya and Manogai district of Kunar, causing civilian deaths and injuries, including women and children.
He described the strikes as “a crime and an act of brutality”.
Pakistan said it had carried out airstrikes and ground operations targeting militant hideouts in eastern Afghanistan, adding that the operation killed 29 terrorists in response to a series of deadly attacks inside Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said “three targets in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed during precision strikes”, referring to three eastern Afghan provinces.
“Pakistan has always strived for maintaining peace and stability in the region, but at the same time shall not compromise on the safety and security of our citizens, which remains our top priority,” Tarar said.
According to Tarar, the strikes formed part of a wider operation that also included intelligence-based ground operations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
He said the overnight offensive was launched in response to Saturday’s attack in Karachi, where militants targeted the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers, killing three soldiers, as well as recent violence in Pakistan’s border provinces.
Pakistani authorities said three attackers were killed and a wounded assailant was arrested. The military identified the arrested man as an Afghan national.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack in a statement on Saturday night.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused armed groups operating from Afghan territory of carrying out attacks inside its borders. Officials in Islamabad say recent operations are part of a broader counterterrorism campaign aimed at dismantling militant infrastructure and preventing further attacks on Pakistani soil.
Kabul has repeatedly rejected the allegations and says Pakistan has failed to provide credible evidence for its claims.
The latest escalation marks another serious deterioration in already fragile Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, which have long been shaped by mutual accusations over cross-border militancy, border security, refugee issues and diplomatic tensions.
The cross-border violence comes less than three weeks after Pakistan carried out another round of airstrikes inside Afghanistan, which Islamabad said targeted militant hideouts. UNAMA had also reported civilian casualties in earlier cross-border clashes and airstrikes this year.