Taliban warns Pakistan after rocket attacks kill 5 children and a woman in Afghanistan
- Fatalities occurred in an eastern Afghan province when Pakistani military forces fired rockets along the border in a predawn assault on Saturday
- Tensions between the countries have risen since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militants are carrying out attacks from Afghan soil
Taliban authorities warned Pakistan on Saturday after five children and a woman were killed in Afghanistan in alleged rocket attacks by the Pakistani military in a predawn assault along the border.
Border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militant groups were carrying out attacks from Afghan soil.
The Taliban deny harbouring Pakistani militants, but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre border known as the Durand line, which was drawn up in colonial times.
“Five children and a woman were killed and a man wounded in Pakistani rocket attacks in Shelton district of Kunar,” provincial director of information Najibullah Hassan Abdaal said in referring to the eastern province of Kunar bordering Pakistan.
Ehsanullah, a resident of Shelton district who goes by one name as many Afghans do, said the assault was carried out by Pakistani military aircraft.
A similar predawn assault was carried out in Afghanistan’s Khost province near the border, another Afghan government official said.
“Pakistani helicopters bombarded four villages near the Durand line in Khost province,” he said on condition of anonymity.