Pakistan airstrikes kill 8 in Afghanistan

KABUL — Pakistan launched two airstrikes into Afghanistan on Monday morning that killed at least eight people, Afghan officials said, escalating simmering tensions between the two countries.

The strikes were carried out in Paktika and Khost provinces in eastern Afghanistan around 3 a.m., Afghan officials said. Three children were among those killed, according to Taliban officials, who condemned the strikes as a violation of Afghan territory.

The strikes came amid a surge of attacks by militants in Pakistan following the Taliban’s seizure of power in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistani officials have blamed the attacks on militants on Afghan soil protected by the Taliban. Taliban officials have denied those claims.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban administration, said in on the social media platform X that “Such incidents can have very bad consequences which will be out of Pakistan’s control.”

In a statement released Monday, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country had carried out “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” inside Afghanistan and accused the Taliban administration of aiding militants operating in Pakistan.