Afghanistan says 9 children killed in Pakistani air strikes, vows to respond

Afghanistan's Taliban administration said on Tuesday that nine children and a woman were killed in Pakistani air strikes and vowed to respond, ratcheting up tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

The bombardment overnight reported by Kabul followed a series of attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad blames on militants based in Afghanistan. Pakistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A ceasefire had held in recent weeks between Afghanistan and Pakistan after the outbreak of deadly border clashes in October, although the two sides failed to come to an agreement in peace negotiations.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Islamabad struck three eastern provinces that border Pakistan, calling it a "violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a clear breach of all internationally accepted norms by the Pakistani authorities".

"Defending our air space, territory, and people is our legitimate right," Mujahid said in a statement. "At an appropriate time, a necessary response will be given."

Islamabad says that militants based in Afghanistan stage attacks in Pakistan and that Kabul has not responded to repeated calls to take action against them. The Taliban denies that its soil is used by Pakistani militants.

On Monday, suicide bombings killed three paramilitary personnel in Peshawar in Pakistan, with security officials saying that they tackled the assailants and averted greater casualties.

A suicide bomber killed 12 people in Islamabad earlier this month, the first time civilians had been targeted in the Pakistani capital for a decade. A day previously, another bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the main gate of a military school in South Waziristan district, near the Afghan border, killing three people.

Islamabad says that it has traced all three attacks to Afghanistan.

Last month's clashes between Pakistani and Afghan militaries killing dozens of people in the worst violence since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Both sides signed a ceasefire in Doha in October, but negotiations ended without a long-term deal after Kabul did not provide a written commitment to take action against militants sought by Islamabad. The Afghan Taliban says it cannot be expected to guarantee security in Pakistan.