Pakistani airstrikes kill 8, all women and children, in Afghanistan
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The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued an official statement denying the Taliban was targeted, saying that their members operate from within Pakistan.
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A police officer stands alert on the top of a vehicle outside the historical Badshahi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP)
The Taliban government's spokesperson confirmed on Monday that "reckless" airstrikes by the Pakistani military in the border regions of Afghanistan have left eight people dead; all women and children.
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that at "around 3:00 am (22:30 GMT Sunday), Pakistani aircraft bombarded civilian homes" in Khost and Paktika provinces near the border.
He added that the Taliban "strongly condemns these attacks and calls this reckless action a violation of and an attack on Afghanistan's sovereignty."
This comes after seven Pakistani troops were killed inside Pakistan on Saturday for which President Asif Ali Zardari vowed retaliation.
"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," he said at their funeral.
The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued an official statement denying the Taliban was targeted, saying that their members operate from within Pakistan.
Read more: Pakistan behavior against Afghan refugees 'unacceptable': Taliban
However, an anonymous TTP source, who spoke to AFP, said, "A house has been attacked where two women and seven children have been killed and a child has been wounded" in the Barmal district in Paktika.
"A bombardment in the Pasa Mela area of Khost also has casualties."
The TTP is a separate entity from the Taliban in Afghanistan that shares a similar ideology with the group. It has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that have been ripping through Pakistan since the group's emersion in 2007.
The group's fighters have been mostly forced out of Pakistan into neighboring Afghanistan. They have been pouring into the country since 2010, though they have seen a bolstering of their status in light of the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan late last year.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
