Pakistani drone strikes kill 3, injure 7 in Afghanistan, Taliban summons envoy

Three people were killed and seven others injured after Pakistani drones struck homes in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Khost provinces late on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report, citing Afghan officials.

A day later on Thursday, the Taliban government summoned Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul  in protest.

In Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province, three children were killed and several others injured after drones struck the home of Haji Naeem Khan in Spera district, which borders Pakistan’s North Waziristan, according to Reuters, citing the provincial media chief.

Meanwhile, in the eastern Nangarhar province, a spokesman reported that a drone strike in Shinwar district injured four sons and two wives of a man named Shahsawar after his house was destroyed.

The Taliban foreign ministry issued a statement saying it “strongly condemns the violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and the bombing of civilians … such irresponsible actions will inevitably have consequences.”

During a meeting in Kabul, the ministry said a formal protest note was handed to Pakistan’s ambassador Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani.

Nizamani, who survived an attack on Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul in 2022, continues to serve as Islamabad’s top envoy despite ongoing tensions between the two countries.

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.

With inputs from agencies