Pakistan Strikes Afghanistan, Killing Three as Kabul Vows Response
Pakistan airstrikes on Afghanistan have renewed fears of a wider confrontation between the two neighbours after Afghan officials said three civilians were killed and several others wounded in strikes on Kunar and Paktika provinces early Monday, September 21, 2026.
Afghanistan’s authorities condemned the strikes and said they would respond at an appropriate time and place, while Pakistan’s military had not immediately commented on the latest operation.
Pakistan airstrikes on Afghanistan hit a home in Kunar
Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said one of the strikes hit a residential home in northeastern Kunar province.
Three members of the same family were killed and four others were wounded, according to Afghan officials cited by Reuters.
Afghan media reported that the attack struck the Nurgal district of Kunar in the early hours of Monday.
Other strikes reported in Paktika
Afghan officials also reported Pakistani strikes on two locations in the Barmal district of eastern Paktika province.
They said a shop and an unoccupied house were destroyed, with no casualties reported there.
Pakistan’s military did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment and had not publicly provided details of the targets at the time of publication.
Afghanistan threatens a response
Afghan authorities condemned the attacks and said the country would respond at the appropriate time and place.
The warning raises the possibility that renewed Pakistani air operations could once again lead to cross-border military exchanges.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have repeatedly exchanged artillery fire, drone attacks and other military action during periods of heightened tension in 2026.
Why are Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting?
The strikes came days after a deadly attack on a police facility in Kohat in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of harbouring militants, particularly fighters linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and allied groups that carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
Kabul rejects those accusations and says militancy inside Pakistan is primarily a domestic Pakistani issue.
Profile News previously covered the deadly attack on the Kohat police and mosque complex.
Three months of relative calm under threat
Reuters said the new airstrikes threaten to reignite tensions after nearly three months of relative calm.
The two countries experienced some of their most serious fighting in years earlier in 2026, including cross-border strikes and clashes that caused significant civilian and military casualties.
China and other countries have attempted to mediate between Islamabad and Kabul, but talks have yet to resolve the core dispute over armed groups operating near the border.
Kunar and Paktika remain flashpoints
Kunar and Paktika have repeatedly been caught up in the confrontation because of their location along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier and proximity to areas where armed groups operate.
Pakistan says its cross-border actions target militant infrastructure rather than civilians.
In June, Islamabad said its strikes inside Afghanistan killed 26 militants, while Taliban authorities said the same operations killed 13 civilians, including children.
The conflicting accounts underline the difficulty of independently verifying the targets and casualties of cross-border attacks.
Could another confrontation follow?
The immediate risk depends on whether Afghanistan carries out its threatened response and whether Pakistan publicly confirms Monday’s strikes and identifies their intended targets.
Previous cycles of retaliation have quickly expanded into artillery exchanges, drone operations and attacks on border positions.
Diplomatic mediation could still limit the escalation, but Monday’s strikes have placed an already fragile relationship under renewed pressure.
For now, Afghan officials report three people killed and four wounded in Kunar, while Pakistan has not publicly released its account of the operation.
Report Sources: Reuters via Arab News — strikes and casualties, Amu TV — Kunar and Paktika details, Reuters — Kohat attack background.
