Pakistan has launched air strikes on neighbouring Afghanistan, killing at least 10 people, the Taliban government spokesman in Kabul said on Tuesday.
The attacks took place on the border regions of Kunar and Paktika. Four civilians were injured in the bombings, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X.
"The Pakistani invading forces bombed the house of a local civilian resident ... as a result, nine children [five boys and four girls] and one woman were martyred" in Khost province, he said.
The bombardment follows Monday's suicide attack on security forces in Peshawar, north-western Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, for which no one has yet claimed responsibility.
Another suicide blast in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad this month killed 12 people and was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who share the ideology of their counterparts in Afghanistan. Authorities in Islamabad blamed a militant cell, "guided at every step by the ... high command based in Afghanistan" for that attack.
Last month, fighting erupted after Pakistan demanded the Taliban rein in militants it says operate from Afghan sanctuaries, prompting a heavy exchange of fire and Pakistani air strikes.
The Pakistani Taliban are being allowed to operate with impunity inside Afghanistan from where it launches attacks on Pakistani security forces, Islamabad claims. Kabul denies this.
Both sides signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Qatar and Turkey in Doha in October. However, peace talks in Ankara collapsed without a long-term deal due to a dispute over militant groups hostile to Pakistan that operate inside Afghanistan. The spate of fighting is the worst violence in the border region since the Taliban reclaimed power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Iran has offered to play a role in defusing the cross-border tension.
Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on Tuesday said he met Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad. He described Pakistan as “an important and influential country in the region, holding a distinguished position in shaping regional security dynamics”.
