Afghan Officials Report Civilian Deaths in Cross-Border Firing from Pakistan

Kabul. Afghan officials stated that three children and one woman were killed in Pakistani shelling that occurred between Sunday and Monday in eastern Afghanistan. According to officials, 18 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in the past week due to cross-border clashes between the two sides.

AFP reported, citing Mustaghfir Gurbuz, the spokesman for the governor of the eastern Khost province, that a woman and a child were killed in shelling by the Pakistani army on the Nari village in the Gurbuz district on Sunday night.

It was reported that four people, including one woman, were injured in shelling on a health clinic and another village, and two of the injured are said to be in critical condition. The governor's office stated in a press release that two children were killed in Pakistani shelling in Afghanistan's Khost region on Sunday.

The Deputy Spokesperson for the government, Hamdullah Fitrat, stated via the social media platform X that one person was killed in shelling in the eastern Nuristan province on Sunday. Earlier, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan confirmed that 75 civilians were killed in clashes with Pakistan on February-26.

Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of harboring militants from the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), while Afghan Taliban officials have denied the accusation.

The border, which was closed after dozens of people were killed in fighting between the two countries last October, had eased following mediation. However, the conflict flared up again after Afghanistan launched border attacks in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes on February-26.

Following that, Pakistan declared "open war" against the Taliban officials by bombing the capital, Kabul, on February-27. The United Nations Refugee Agency stated that frequent border conflicts recently have stabilized trade and forced more than 1.1 million people to leave their homes.

The World Food Programme began distributing food to more than 20,000 displaced Afghan families on Sunday and warned that further instability could push millions into famine.