Pakistan Attacks Hit Afghan Civilians  05/05 06:18

   

   KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan accused Pakistan of carrying out 
cross-border attacks into its territory on Monday that hit civilian areas, 
killing at least three people and wounding 14, as tension between the two 
neighbors remain high despite recent peace talks.

   Afghan deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on X that the 
attacks also destroyed two schools, two mosques and a health center in the 
eastern Afghan province of Kunar.

   Pakistan's Information Ministry rejected the allegation in a post on X, 
saying that Fitrat's accusations follow recent cross-border firing from Afghan 
territory into Pakistan. Those attacks, in Mrch and April, killed nine women 
and children in Bajaur, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

   It said Bajaur attacks "exposed the Afghan regime's reckless and shameful 
actions." The ministry also argued that images circulated with the latest 
Afghan claim show damage "inconsistent with artillery impact," citing intact 
roofs and localized breakage as indicators of possible staged destruction.

   Pakistan and Afghanistan had been embroiled in months of deadly fighting 
that killed hundreds of people since late February, when Afghanistan launched a 
cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside 
Afghanistan.

   Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that carry out deadly 
attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, known as 
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. The group is separate from, but allied with, 
the Afghan Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan since it seized power in the 
country in 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies 
the charge.

   In early April, Afghan and Pakistani officials met for Chinese-mediated 
peace talks in western China. The two sides agreed not to escalate the conflict 
and "explore a comprehensive solution," Beijing said at the time. But some 
cross-border clashes have continued, although at a lower intensity than before 
the talks.