Kabul: A Pakistani airstrike that hit a civilian home in Afghanistan’s Khost province has killed nine children and one adult, Afghan officials said on Tuesday, triggering a fierce warning of retaliation from the Taliban government.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, stated that the attack took place around midnight in the Gurbuz district. Among the victims were five boys and four girls, all minors, he said. Additional strikes were reported in Kunar and Paktika, where at least four civilians were wounded.
The cross-border escalation comes barely hours after suicide attackers targeted Pakistan’s Federal Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar, killing three personnel and injuring 11. According to local police officer Mian Saeed Ahmad, one bomber detonated at the gate, while two others trying to enter the compound were fatally shot by security forces.
Wali Mat Khan, speaking about the family from Khost’s Gurbuz district whose nine young children and one woman were martyred last night in an airstrike carried out by Pakistani aggressor forces, described the details of the incident to Gharghasht as follows. pic.twitter.com/Xxao8Q77TJ
— Inside Afghanistan (@A_Observer313) November 25, 2025
Ceasefire Fractures, Border Tensions Soar
Though Pakistan and Afghanistan had signed a temporary ceasefire in Doha in October, subsequent talks in Turkey collapsed over disagreements regarding anti-Pakistan militant factions operating inside Afghanistan. The failure of negotiations has reopened a volatile security corridor along one of the world’s most sensitive borders.
In a strongly worded message on X, Mujahid condemned Tuesday’s airstrikes as a “violation and crime,” asserting that Afghanistan would defend its territory and respond “appropriately at the right time.” He warned that continued aggression could trigger consequences “beyond Pakistan’s control.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office maintained that its strikes were “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations,” targeting militants belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur network and elements of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Risk of Wider Conflict
With civilian casualties mounting and each government blaming the other for harboring militants, the situation threatens to spiral into a broader cross-border confrontation. Regional observers warn that the fragile diplomatic channel between Kabul and Islamabad is edging towards collapse, raising fresh concerns over militancy, refugee flows, and wider instability.
