The Afghan Taliban said it would retaliate for the Tuesday bombing in the eastern Paktika province of Afghanistan by Pakistani military aircraft, which killed at least 46 people, mostly women and children.
Deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on Wednesday that the bombing at four locations in Afghanistan also injured six people.
Pakistani military and government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a formal protest note about the bombing by Pakistani military aircraft, Afghanistan’s foreign office said it had called Pakistan’s head of mission in Kabul to deliver to Islamabad, warning the diplomat of the repercussions of his actions.
“This heinous act is a clear act of aggression and a flagrant violation of all international principles,” stated Enayatullah Khowrazmi, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman. “The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered.”
An anonymous Pakistani official with knowledge of the situation told Reuters that Pakistan had launched airstrikes against a Pakistani Taliban (TTP) Islamist militant group camp.
Although it pledges loyalty to and takes its name from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP is not an official member of the Afghan government. It claims to want to establish Islamic religious law in Pakistan, just like the Taliban did in Afghanistan.
A significant TTP attack killed 16 Pakistani security personnel on Saturday in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, which is adjacent to the site of the alleged camp targeted in Afghanistan.
Those killed in Pakistan’s bombardment were called “mostly Waziristani refugees” by Afghanistan’s defense ministry, indicating that they were from Pakistan’s Wazistan region.
Relationship tensions exist between the neighbors; Pakistan claims that multiple TTP attacks in its territory were carried out from Afghan territory, a claim the Afghan Taliban disputes.
In March, the Taliban accused Pakistan of carrying out two airstrikes on its territory, killing five women and childrenand complicating their relationship.
Pakistan claimed to have carried out “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” in Afghanistan at the time, but it did not elaborate on the specifics of the operations.
