2022 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan

Shultan District

Spera District

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Location of bombing sites in Afghanistan

On 16 April 2022, the Pakistani military conducted predawn airstrikes on multiple targets in Afghanistan's Khost and Kunar provinces.^[2] Afghan officials said the attacks killed at least 47 civilians and injured 23 others. ^[5][2][6][7] Initial reports described the attacks as either rocket strikes or aerial strikes carried out by a number of aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force,^[1][2][8][9] and Afghan officials claimed the operation was carried out by Pakistani military helicopters and jets.^[2][1][3] Pakistani officials initially denied Pakistan carried out the airstrikes,^[10][11][12] but Pakistani security officials later claimed the airstrikes involved drone strikes from inside Pakistani airspace, and that no aircraft were deployed.^[4] Some reports said the Pakistani airstrikes also targeted parts of Paktika Province.^[13][8][14]

The Taliban administration in Kabul did not release casualty figures,^[15][9] but acknowledged civilian deaths and diplomatically protested the incident.^[16][17] The airstrikes appeared to have been carried out as retaliation to an attack on a Pakistani military convoy in North Waziristan, Pakistan on 14 April, which had killed seven Pakistani soldiers. According to the Pakistani media and some Afghan media outlets, the attacks targeted militants belonging to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).^[18] Pakistani soldiers had also reportedly clashed with Taliban forces around 9 p.m. on 15 April in Gurbuz District, Khost Province, killing two Taliban fighters.^[19]

Protests against the attacks took place in several Afghan provinces including one in Nimruz Province, that turned violent when the Pakistani border forces allegedly opened fire and injured six protesters.^[20] In Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, a sit-in started after the airstrikes.^[21] The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed concern over the civilian casualties in the airstrikes, and said it was working to establish the facts and verify losses.^[22]