Two Civilians Killed in Pakistani Airstrikes on Afghanistan

SadaNews - A woman and her child were killed in eastern Afghanistan due to Pakistani airstrikes late Sunday - Monday, raising the number of Afghan civilian casualties during a week of clashes with Pakistan to 18, according to authorities.

A Taliban spokesperson in Khost province, Mustaghfir Gharbz, stated, "The Pakistani regime launched airstrikes on the Nari town in the Gharbz area, resulting in the death of a woman and a child."

Khost authorities had reported on Sunday evening the death of two children in a Pakistani artillery attack on "civilian homes in the Spira area."

In total, Afghan authorities reported that 18 civilians have been killed over the past week in Kabul and areas adjacent to Pakistan.

It is not easy to obtain immediate and independent confirmation of the number of casualties, due to difficulties in accessing some regions in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

However, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is conducting a tally of the civilians killed in the country based on verification from multiple sources.

According to the latest updated toll released Friday, 75 Afghan civilians have been killed since the escalation of clashes with Pakistan on February 26.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have been facing off for months, with Islamabad accusing its neighbor of harboring militants from the Pakistani Taliban who have claimed deadly attacks in Pakistan, allegations that Afghan authorities deny.

In October 2025, clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan resulted in dozens of deaths and led to a near-total closure of the land borders. After multiple mediation efforts, the intensity of the clashes subsided.

However, the conflict escalated again on February 26 following Pakistani airstrikes, followed by an Afghan ground attack.

Pakistan announced on Sunday that four civilians were killed in Afghan artillery shelling on a house in Bajaur on the Pakistani side of the border.

In Afghanistan, the United Nations World Food Program began distributing emergency assistance on Sunday to about 20,000 Afghan families displaced due to the conflict with Pakistan. The agency warned that "prolonged instability could cause millions of people to suffer from more than just hunger."