Pakistani airstrikes kill at least 13 in Afghanistan as cross-border conflict escalates
Afghan Taliban authorities say Pakistani military aircraft struck residential areas in the eastern provinces of Khost, Kunar and Paktika early Wednesday, killing at least 13 people — including 11 children, a woman and an elderly man — and wounding 14 others. Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strikes as a violation of Afghan sovereignty; Islamabad did not immediately acknowledge them. The strikes follow months of deadly fighting since February that has reportedly killed hundreds, with Pakistan accusing Kabul of harboring the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a charge the Taliban deny. Separately, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada reportedly issued a verbal order barring officials and group members from using smartphones, with violators facing military courts. Seven more people, mostly children, were killed in an unexploded-ordnance/mortar blast in the country's east.
Why it matters
The Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship has deteriorated sharply since the Taliban's 2021 return to power, with the unresolved TTP insurgency and the contested Durand Line fueling repeated cross-border strikes that have killed civilians on both sides. Escalating Pakistani air operations risk a broader interstate confrontation between two nuclear-adjacent neighbors and further destabilize a region already strained by displacement, refugee returns and drought.
🔎 Ground signal
The smartphone ban signals deepening internal control and ideological tightening under Akhundzada, extending earlier restrictions on images and devices in schools — a quieter but telling indicator of the regime's trajectory.