Afghanistan condemns Pakistan as U.N. mission says airstrikes killed 10 civilians, “most of them children”

October 1, 2026 / 9:37 AM EDT / CBS News

Islamabad — Pakistan launched new airstrikes in Afghanistan overnight, killing at least 10 people, most of them children, the United Nations mission in the country said Thursday.

Islamabad claimed the attacks targeted militants with Pakistani insurgent groups who have mounted attacks on the country, but Afghanistan's Taliban government accused the neighboring nation of aggression, saying the strikes hit civilian homes, killing women and children.

"UNAMA has confirmed that at least 10 civilians were killed, most of them children, and 9 people injured in airstrikes," the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan said in a statement shared on social media. UNAMA did not attribute the strikes to Pakistan, but no other nation has claimed recent aerial attacks on Afghanistan.

The strikes targeted areas in Afghanistan's Kunar and Helmand provinces, and chief spokesperson for the Afghan regime Zabihullah Mujahid said three civilian homes were destroyed.

He condemned the Pakistani bombing as an act of aggression.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information presented a sharply different account.

In a statement sent to CBS News, the ministry said the strikes were intelligence-driven, "well planned and calibrated" and hit militant hideouts and camps at two locations, and that…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/