Pakistan kills 3 civilians in air strikes on Afghanistan, Taliban vows retaliation | Gravitas

As Pakistan faces Saudi Arabia's pressure for trying to shirk its Mecca Pact commitment and growing internal turmoil, Asim Munir's diversionary tactics are back.

His forces reignited another front by conducting fresh air strikes on Afghanistan in the early hours of Monday.

According to Taliban, the Pakistani army bombarded civilian areas in the provinces of Kunar and Paktika.

While a woman and two men were killed and four others were injured in Kunar's Nurgal district, no casualties were reported in the Paktika strike that damaged a house and a shop in the Barmal district.

Condemning these strikes, Taliban accused the Pak military establishment of committing such a crime to divert attention from its security failures within its own country.

It also vowed to respond appropriately to what it called... this aggression.

Visuals showed the spate of destruction in Kunar province where the strikes took place.

People were seen trying to search for their belongings in the rubble of their destroyed home.

Remnants of a bomb were also recovered from the spot.

After performing funeral prayers for the victims, residents lashed out at Pakistan for targeting innocent civilians.

On its part though, Pakistan's information ministry claimed that the calibrated strikes were carried out on hideouts and safe havens of what it said were terrorist groups responsible for the recent terror attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

It added that 28 terrorists were killed after a suicide bombers' training centre was reportedly destroyed.

This comes barely a few hours after six Pakistani soldiers were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu district near the Afghan border.

Earlier on September 18, the city of Kohat was rocked by a deadly attack.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle at the police headquarters and terrorists stormed the compound thereafter, leading to 31 deaths and more than a hundred injuries.

It is worth noting that Pakistan had issued a veiled warning to Afghanistan after this attack, asserting that it has the 'will and capability' to eliminate such threats wherever they are.

Now, although both nations agreed to a ceasefire in October 2025, the truce ended in February this year after Pakistan conducted air strikes in Afghanistan.

The worst escalation took place in March, when Munir's forces bombed a Kabul hospital.

While Taliban stated that about 400 people were killed, the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan independently verified the killing of at least 269 civilians whereas 122 others were wounded.

In June-end, Pakistan killed at least 36 civilians with air strikes on the three eastern provinces of Paktika, Kunar and Paktia.

Subsequently, Afghanistan claimed to have targeted ISIS centres in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, a claim which Pakistan denied.

Now, Pakistan's targeting of civilians has been confirmed by UN itself.

From April to June this year, UN documented killing of 57 Afghan civilians and injuries to 342 others due to Pakistan's attacks.

It also flagged an increase in casualties caused by unexploded ordnance left behind in areas close to the border.

Pakistan's aggression comes at a time when it is scrambling to deal with growing internal dissatisfaction over former PM Imran Khan's prolonged incarceration.

Ahead of Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaaf's September 27 nationwide protest and long march to demand Khan's release from jail, the authorities have commenced a brutal crackdown.

The PTI founder's sisters, Aleema Khan, Dr. Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, have been detained for 30 days under the pretext of maintaining public order.

According to Khan's son Kasim, their children have been arrested as well.

Stressing that no nation should tolerate this establishment, he called for global action.

Munir's use of brute force on civilians as well as dissenters has yet again exposed Pakistan's real face on the global stage...