US-made Mark 82 (Mk 82) bombs were used in Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan’s Kunar province on September 21, according to an analysis of bomb remnants by the BBC Afghanistan Fact Check team.
The finding follows conflicting accounts of the strikes, with Pakistan claiming it killed 28 militants at TTP-linked facilities, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government said that at least three people, including women, were killed in Kunar and Paktika.
The BBC team examined photographs and videos showing fragments and remnants of bombs recovered from sites hit in Kunar. The material, released by media outlets affiliated with the Taliban government and Afghan news organisations, also showed destruction caused by the strikes.
According to the team’s assessment, the remnants indicated that US-made Mk 82 bombs had been used in the attacks.
Bomb remnants found after airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar province bear markings for a US-made MK82 guided bomb. [BBC]
Pakistan had said on September 21 that it carried out “highly precise” strikes based on “credible intelligence”, targeting hideouts of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and affiliated groups in border areas adjoining Afghanistan.
The Pakistani statement claimed that 28 militants, including several “suicide bombers”, were killed, adding that three targets had been destroyed, among them a “suicide bomber training centre”.
It also claimed that large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at the facilities were destroyed. However, the statement did not identify any Afghan city or province where the strikes took place.
Responding to Pakistan’s account, the Taliban government said the strikes hit Kunar and Paktika, killing at least three civilians, including women.
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