Taliban respond after deadly Pakistan strikes

▶ Islamabad’s troops attacked in retaliation for early morning bombs said to have killed eight civilians

The Taliban’s Defence Ministry said yesterday it had attacked Pakistani troops at the border in response to two air strikes on Afghan territory that killed five women and three children.

“The Islamic emirate of Afghanistan does not allow anyone to compromise security by using Afghan territory,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Army and Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment on the strikes.

Mr Mujahid said Pakistani aircraft carried out the attack at about 3am.

It hit civilian homes in the eastern provinces of Khost and Paktika, near the border with Pakistan.

Three women and three children were killed in the Barmal district of Paktika and two women were killed in the Spera district of Khost, he posted on social media. “Such incidents can have very bad consequences, which will be out of Pakistan’s control,” said Mr Mujahid.

The “reckless” attacks were a breach of Afghanistan’s territory, he added.

The reported strikes came after seven Pakistani troops were killed in an attack on Saturday on a military post in North Waziristan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari had vowed to retaliate.

“Pakistan has decided that whoever will enter our borders, homes or country and commit terror, we will respond to them strongly, regardless of who it is or from which country,” said Mr Zardari, who became Pakistan’s 14th president on March 10.

He was attending the funeral prayers of the soldiers who were killed, including a lieutenant colonel.

The attack was claimed by Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad, a new militant group that Pakistani security officials believe to be made up of members of the outlawed Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which often carries out attacks against Pakistani soldiers and police.

The border areas between the two countries have long been a stronghold for militant groups such as the Tahrik-e-Taliban, which has strong links to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pakistan says these groups operate from the Afghanistan side of the border.

The Tahrik-e-Taliban issued a statement denying that they were the targets of Monday’s air strikes, saying that their members operate within Pakistan.

Border tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have risen since the Afghan Taliban seized power after the exit of the US and its allies in 2021, which was followed by an increase in militant activity in Pakistan.

In 2022, Taliban authorities said Pakistani military helicopters carried out strikes along the Afghan side of the border, which killed at least 47 people.

The Islamic emirate of Afghanistan does not allow anyone to compromise security by using Afghan territory ZABIHULLAH MUJAHID

Taliban spokesman