Taliban accuses Pakistan of deadly drone strikes
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — The Taliban flag is seen in a marketplace in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 10, 2022. REUTERS/Ali Khara
KABUL - Afghan officials said Pakistani drones struck homes in Nangarhar and Khost provinces late on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding seven, prompting the Taliban government to summon Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul on Thursday in protest.
In Khost’s Spera district, a southeastern border region adjacent to Pakistan’s North Waziristan, three children were killed and several others wounded when drones hit the home of Haji Naeem Khan, according to the province’s media chief.
In Nangarhar’s Shinwar district, near Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan, a spokesman said four sons and two wives of a man named Shahsawar were among those injured when his house was destroyed.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry and Pakistan’s military media wing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained in recent years, with Islamabad accusing militants sheltering across the border of staging attacks inside Pakistan, while Kabul denies giving safe haven.
The strikes in Nangarhar and Khost provinces came barely a week after Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar joined his Chinese and Afghan counterparts in Kabul for a trilateral dialogue at which the three countries pledged to step up counter-terrorism cooperation, expand trade and extend the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan.
The Taliban foreign ministry said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and the bombing of civilians … such irresponsible actions will inevitably have consequences”.
It said Pakistan’s ambassador, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, was handed a protest note during the meeting in Kabul.
Nizamani survived an attack on Pakistan’s embassy compound in Kabul in 2022 but has remained Islamabad’s top envoy despite repeated strains in ties.
(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabuk; Sakshi Dayal and Charlotte GreenfieldWriting by Ariba ShahidEditing by YP Rajesh and Frances Kerry // REUTERS)
