Afghanistan’s authorities accused Pakistan’s army of shelling the outskirts of an jap Afghan metropolis on Sunday (March 30, 2026), killing one particular person and wounding greater than a dozen within the newest episode of renewed combating between the 2 neighbouring international locations.
The combating, which erupted in late February, has been essentially the most extreme between Afghanistan and Pakistan in a long time.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of offering a secure haven for militants who perform assaults inside Pakistan, particularly for the Pakistani Taliban. The group is separate however carefully allied with the Afghan Taliban, which seized energy in Afghanistan in 2021 through the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies the allegation.
Afghan deputy authorities spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat mentioned that “mortars and different heavy weaponry” have been used Sunday afternoon to strike rural areas and civilian houses on the outskirts of the town of Asadabad in Kunar Province.
In a put up on X accompanied by pictures of wounded kids, Mr. Fitrat mentioned that preliminary figures indicated that one particular person had been killed and 16 others have been wounded, largely ladies and youngsters. There was no quick response from Pakistan to the accusations.
The combating between Afghanistan and Pakistan has seen repeated cross-border clashes in addition to airstrikes inside Afghanistan, together with a number of within the Afghan capital Kabul.
Earlier this month, Afghanistan mentioned {that a} Pakistani airstrike had hit a drug remedy hospital in Kabul, killing greater than 400 folks. The U.N. humanitarian affairs workplace has mentioned the entire demise toll continues to be beneath verification. Pakistan has disputed the declare and denied concentrating on civilians, saying that it struck an ammunition depot.
The combating in February started when Afghanistan launched a cross-border raid into Pakistan, saying it was in retaliation for lethal Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas that it mentioned had killed solely civilians. Islamabad had mentioned the strikes have been concentrating on militants.
Final month, Pakistan declared that it was in “open warfare” with Afghanistan. The battle has alarmed the worldwide neighborhood, significantly as the world is one the place different militant organizations, together with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, nonetheless have a presence and have been making an attempt to resurface.
The 2 sides declared a short lived truce final week earlier than the Muslim vacation of Eid al-Fitr, following mediation by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. The truce expired earlier this week, and renewed combating erupted on Wednesday, with Afghan officers saying that at the very least two civilians had been killed in jap Afghanistan.
Pressure between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been excessive for months. The latest combating has upended a Qatari-mediated ceasefire in October that had halted earlier clashes between the 2 sides that had killed dozens of civilians, safety forces and militants. The 2 sides differ broadly on the casualty figures.
Peace talks held in Istanbul in November failed to achieve a long-term resolution.
Revealed – March 30, 2026 02:39 am IST