The Taliban government on Wednesday accused Pakistan of conducting overnight air strikes inside Afghan territory, claiming at least 13 civilians were killed, including 11 children.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani military aircraft violated Afghan airspace between Tuesday night and early Wednesday, hitting civilian homes in the eastern provinces of Kunar, Khost, and Paktika. Fourteen others were injured, mostly women, according to the group.

Mujahid described the attacks as “unprovoked aggression” and released photographs showing what he said were the aftermath, including damaged homes and casualties. Pakistan has not yet commented publicly on the latest allegations.

Strikes Hit Residential Areas

Initial reports from local sources indicated explosions in remote villages near the border. Residents described hearing aircraft overhead followed by blasts that shook homes, according to accounts shared with Afghan media outlets. One survivor reportedly lost multiple family members in the strikes.

The Taliban has framed the incident as part of a pattern of cross-border operations by Islamabad that have intensified over the past year.

Rising Civilian Toll

Of the 13 killed, 11 were children, one woman, and one elderly man, Mujahid said. The group also claimed 14 women sustained injuries. While independent verification remains difficult in the volatile region, such casualty figures have become distressingly common in recent flare-ups between the two neighbours.

Photographs circulated by Taliban officials showed rubble and what appeared to be remnants of residential structures. Afghan authorities have called for an immediate end to what they term repeated violations of sovereignty.

Background of Escalating Tensions

Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have deteriorated sharply since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Once seen as a key backer of the group, Pakistan now accuses the Taliban of sheltering militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), who Islamabad blames for deadly attacks inside Pakistan.

Taliban officials reject these charges and counter that Pakistan harbours anti-Afghan elements and routinely infringes on Afghan territory. The border has largely remained closed since major clashes erupted in October 2025, disrupting trade and displacing thousands of civilians on both sides.

Earlier incidents, including reported strikes on a rehabilitation centre in Kabul in March that allegedly killed hundreds, have further poisoned the atmosphere. Pakistani authorities have consistently maintained that their operations target militant hideouts and are necessary for national security.

Impact on Border Communities

The latest violence comes as residents along the porous Durand Line continue to bear the brunt of the conflict. Many families have already fled deeper into Afghanistan or towards safer areas, adding to the humanitarian strain in a country already grappling with economic hardship and internal challenges.

Local traders and farmers, who once relied on cross-border movement, say the prolonged closure has devastated livelihoods. “We used to move goods freely; now everything is frozen,” one merchant from the region was quoted saying in local reports.

Diplomatic Silence and Next Steps

As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no official word from Pakistan’s foreign ministry or military on the Taliban’s accusations. Analysts suggest Islamabad may view such operations as defensive measures against what it sees as persistent threats emanating from Afghan soil.

The incident is likely to further complicate already strained regional dynamics. With both sides locked in mutual recriminations, the prospects for dialogue remain dim in the near term.

Observers warn that continued military actions risk spiralling into wider instability, affecting not just bilateral ties but the broader security architecture in South and Central Asia. International calls for restraint have so far yielded little visible effect on the ground.

The Taliban has vowed to respond appropriately while urging the international community to take note of what it calls Pakistani aggression. For now, the focus remains on the immediate aftermath in Kunar, Khost, and Paktika, where rescue and relief efforts are reportedly underway.

The Strike That Shocked the World

In the deadliest single incident of the ongoing Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict, a Pakistani airstrike struck the Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul at approximately 9 p.m. local time on March 16, killing at least 400 people and injuring around 250 others. The facility — a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation centre known as "Omid," meaning "Hope," located in a former NATO camp — was housing thousands of young Afghans battling addiction, one of the country's most severe social crises.

This was not a military base. This was a hospital full of patients.

The Pakistan airstrike on Kabul's Omid hospital is not just a tragedy — it is a turning point. Whatever the truth of competing narratives, the images of rescue workers using flashlights to carry bodies from burning rubble demand a global response.

What Happened: A Timeline

The conflict began in late February when Pakistan launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians. Afghanistan retaliated with cross-border attacks, disrupting a ceasefire that Qatar had brokered in October 2024. Since then, Pakistan has declared itself in a state of "open war" with Afghanistan.

On the day of the hospital strike, Afghan officials reported that mortar shells from Pakistan struck villages in Khost province, killing four people including two children, as fighting entered its third week. That same evening, the Omid hospital was hit.

Television footage showed firefighters struggling to extinguish flames among the ruins of the building, while security forces carried out casualties under flashlight in the dark.

Pakistan Denies It. Afghanistan Calls It a Crime Against Humanity.

The two sides are telling vastly different stories.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information stated that its strikes precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure in Kabul and Nangarhar, and that its targeting was "precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage."

Afghanistan's government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid flatly rejected that version, accusing Pakistan of "targeting hospitals and civilian sites to perpetrate horrors" and calling the act "against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity."

A Taliban health spokesman confirmed that the death toll could rise further, as rescue teams were still pulling bodies from the rubble.

The truth of what happened inside that facility matters enormously — but the scale of death demands accountability regardless of which narrative holds up to scrutiny.

The Bigger Picture: Why This Conflict Keeps Escalating

At the heart of this war is a long-running accusation. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, as well as to Baloch separatist groups who regularly attack Pakistani civilians and security forces. Kabul flatly denies this.

China's Foreign Ministry confirmed that its special envoy has been shuttling between Kabul and Islamabad to mediate, urging both sides to "remain calm, exercise restraint," and achieve a ceasefire through dialogue. The international community is watching closely — and nervously — because the region is also home to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, both of which have been attempting to resurface.

The UN Speaks — But Is Anyone Listening?

Hours before the hospital strike, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to immediately step up efforts to combat terrorism. The resolution also extended the UN political mission in Afghanistan for three months. It condemned terrorist activity in the strongest terms — but crucially did not name Pakistan.

That omission reflects the geopolitical tightrope the international community is walking. Naming Pakistan would escalate diplomatic tensions. Staying silent enables a war with no ceasefire in sight.

The World Cannot Look Away

The Pakistan airstrike on Kabul's hospital is a moment that strips away the language of military precision and lays bare the human cost of this conflict. Whether the building housed patients or militants — and overwhelming evidence points to the former — 400 people are dead and 250 are injured. Rescue workers are still pulling bodies from the fire.

South Asia cannot afford a full-scale war between two nuclear-armed neighbours in an already volatile neighbourhood. The international community's calls for restraint have so far gone unheeded. That must change — now.