A fresh wave of devastation has struck war-weary Afghanistan as Pakistani forces launched yet another airstrike late Monday night — this time targeting a civilian home in Khost province, killing nine children and a woman.
The Taliban-led Afghan government condemned the assault, accusing Pakistan of deliberately escalating a conflict that has already claimed hundreds of civilian lives.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the strike tore through a house in the Mughalgai area of Gurbuz district around midnight.
“Pakistani forces bombed the home of resident Wilayat Khan… nine children, five boys and four girls, and one woman were martyred,” he posted on X, adding that the home was destroyed.
Pakistani attacks were also reported in Kunar and Paktika, leaving four more civilians injured.
What makes the tragedy unbearable, Afghan officials said, is the brutality of the timing — children who should have been asleep, dreaming of the next day’s play, were instead killed instantly in a fiery blast from across the border.
A night that should have echoed with families resting in safety was turned into a nightmare of collapsing walls and burning rubble.
This latest strike adds to growing fears that Pakistan is pushing the conflict into a dangerous new phase.
Rather than working toward de-escalation after years of cross-border tensions, Islamabad appears committed to intensifying pressure on Kabul — even at the cost of civilian lives.
The Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict has simmered for over a year, but its roots run deeper, stretching back to the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
Islamabad accuses Kabul of enabling the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to carry out attacks inside Pakistan — a claim Afghanistan rejects. The Taliban, in turn, accuse Pakistan of using airpower to bully and intimidate border districts.
The contested Durand Line, which neither the Afghan Taliban nor the TTP recognise, remains one of the region’s most explosive flashpoints.
Analysts say that Pakistan’s recent airstrikes, particularly those hitting civilian homes, risk widening the conflict far beyond militant-state confrontations.
According to reporting by Middle East Eye, the Afghan government may not be actively coordinating with the TTP, but it is reluctant to confront them out of fear of triggering an internal backlash.
Journalist Shabbir Ahmed noted, “The Taliban regime views the TTP not as terrorists but as ideological kin and historical battlefield allies.”
With mutual distrust deepening and diplomatic talks repeatedly collapsing, border provinces like Khost, Jalalabad, and Paktika have become unwilling battlefields — and families like that of Wilayat Khan are paying the price.
Children who should have been enjoying simple, innocent moments — playing outside, laughing, living — are instead being buried because of a conflict they never chose.
So far, hundreds of civilians have been killed in cross-border fighting, and Monday night’s tragedy underscores a grim reality: instead of easing tensions, Pakistan’s latest actions appear determined to drag the region toward further bloodshed.
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