Afghanistan said on Sunday that Pakistani air strikes in its eastern border province had killed and injured “dozens” of people, in one of the most serious recent escalations in the conflict between the two countries.Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted onAfghanistan’s “Tolo News” reported that the Pakistani army attacked a house in Besud area of Nangarhar Province, resulting in a family of 23 people being buried under the rubble. Reports say only four people have been rescued so far. According to ANI, the Pakistan Air Force also attacked a religious seminary in the Bemar area of Paktika Province and carried out multiple air strikes in the Khojani area of Nangarhar Province.Pakistan has been on strike since Saturday in Belmar and Ergun districts of Paktika and Khojani, Basod and Ghanikere districts of Nangarhar province.Islamabad confirmed the cross-border attack, saying it targeted a militant group that has recently carried out suicide attacks in Pakistan. Pakistani media also reported that the airstrikes focused on militant camps along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.Geo News quoted the Pakistan Information Ministry as saying that seven camps and hideouts of Fitna al Khwarij (FAK), its affiliates and Daesh Khorasan Province (DKP) were attacked. The ministry said the operation was carried out with “precision and accuracy” in response to recent suicide attacks in Islamabad, Bajaur and Bannu during Ramadan.Days earlier, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a security post in the Bajaur district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Authorities later said the attacker was an Afghan national. Hours before the latest border attack, another suicide bomber attacked a security convoy in the Bannu region, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.In a sign of rising tensions between Islamabad and Kabul, Pakistan’s military warned after Saturday’s violence that it would not “exercise any restraint” and would continue targeting those responsible “wherever they are.”Information Minister Atala Talal said Pakistan had “conclusive evidence” that recent attacks, including a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad earlier this month that killed 31 worshipers, were carried out by Tehrik-e-Taliban militants at the behest of their leadership and handlers in Afghanistan.He said that Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan Taliban rulers to take verifiable measures to prevent armed groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, but claimed that no substantive action has been taken yet.Pakistan said in a statement that it hoped Afghanistan’s interim government would prevent the use of its territory against Pakistan and called on the international community to put pressure on Afghan authorities to fulfill their commitments under the Doha Agreement.Earlier this week, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it reserves the right to target Afghanistan to protect its citizens amid heightened cross-border tensions following the Bajaur attack, ANI reported citing Dawn newspaper. “Pakistan has a very legitimate demand that Afghan territory should not be used for terrorism in Pakistan. So as long as this demand is not met, all options will obviously remain on the table while remaining patient,” foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told a weekly media briefing.Relations between the two countries have been tense since October, when deadly border clashes resulted in the deaths of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants on both sides. After the bombing in Kabul, Afghan officials blamed Pakistan for the violence.
