Nine children killed in Pakistani attack in Afghan province, Taliban says

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(Reuters) -At least nine children and a woman were killed after Pakistani forces bombed the home of a local resident in Afghanistan’s Khost province, Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday.

Mujahid said Pakistan also carried out raids in the provinces of Kunar and Paktika, injuring four civilians.

“Last night at 12 o’clock in the Gerbzwo district of Khawst province, Pakistani invading forces bombed the house of civilian local resident Wilayat Khan, which martyred 9 children (5 boys and 4 girls) and one woman, and destroyed their house,” Mujahid said in a post on X, accompanied by pictures of the dead.

The Pakistan military and foreign ministry could not be reached for comment outside business hours.

The raids come one day after twin suicide bombings killed three paramilitary personnel in Peshawar in Pakistan.

The Pakistani and Afghan militaries clashed in October, killing dozens, in the worst violence since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Both sides signed a ceasefire in Doha in October, but peace talks in Turkey collapsed without a long-term deal due to a disagreement over militant groups hostile to Pakistan that operate inside Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Raju Gopalakrishnan)