On a cold November morning in Khost province, Afghanistan, the silence was shattered by a deadly strike that left the local community reeling. According to Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson for the Afghan government, Pakistan “bombed” the home of a civilian, killing nine children and a woman. Mujahid took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to announce the tragedy, which he described as an “atrocity” and a “violation of Afghan territory.” He further claimed that additional strikes were carried out in the nearby provinces of Kunar and Paktika, injuring four more people. The Afghan government has called the incident a breach of sovereignty and warned that it considers defending its people its “legitimate right,” promising a response at an “appropriate time.”
Residents in Khost spent the aftermath combing through the rubble of the destroyed home, retrieving what little was left. Muhammad Iqbal, a relative of the victims, told the Associated Press, “You see the cruelty with your own eyes, that young children, a woman and nine children, were martyred.” Local tribal leader Mer Adam Khan recounted that the attack was carried out by a drone that appeared overhead around midnight. “It is not known where it came from and by whom,” he said, identifying the home’s owner as Shariat Khan, a man he described as poor and uninvolved in any government affairs.
Pakistan’s military and government, however, have firmly denied the allegations. During a press briefing in Rawalpindi, Pakistani military spokesperson Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry stated, “Pakistan does not target and kill civilians.” He insisted that any strikes claimed by Pakistan are only directed at hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who have been behind a surge in violence within Pakistan. “We announce and acknowledge whenever we carry out such strikes,” Chaudhry said, dismissing the Afghan government’s accusations as baseless. The Pakistani side maintains that the October strikes targeted militants responsible for attacks on Pakistani soil, not civilians.
This latest episode of violence comes against a backdrop of rising tensions between the two neighboring countries. Just a day prior, the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar was rocked by a deadly attack at the headquarters of the Federal Constabulary. Two suicide bombers and a gunman stormed the compound, killing three officers and injuring eleven more. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), a group closely allied with the Afghan Taliban. According to Pakistani authorities, the attackers were Afghan nationals who crossed the border from the Tirah region, further fueling Islamabad’s longstanding concerns about militants using Afghan territory as a staging ground for violence in Pakistan.
Pakistan has repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to prevent TTP militants from launching attacks across the border. Kabul, for its part, denies these accusations, insisting that it does not allow its territory to be used for attacks against any country, including Pakistan. The Afghan government’s stance has remained consistent, even as relations have deteriorated following an October 9 drone strike on Kabul, which Afghanistan claims was carried out by Pakistan. That incident set off a series of cross-border clashes that killed dozens of soldiers, civilians, and militants before a ceasefire, brokered by Qatar and Turkey, was reached on October 19.
Despite the Afghan government’s latest allegations, the ceasefire was reportedly still holding as of Tuesday, with no immediate comment from Qatar or Turkey. Iran, meanwhile, has stepped forward in recent weeks, offering to mediate between the two countries. On November 25, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, met with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad to discuss the situation—a sign of the growing regional concern over the escalating conflict.
Efforts to resolve the dispute through diplomacy have so far failed. Two rounds of talks in Istanbul ended in stalemate, with Pakistan demanding a written guarantee from Afghanistan that TTP fighters would not operate from Afghan soil. Afghanistan refused to provide such a guarantee, maintaining that it does not support or harbor militants. The impasse has had real-world consequences: all border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been closed since early October, bringing trade and the movement of people to a standstill. Families on both sides of the border have been unable to visit relatives, and local economies have suffered from the disruption.
The security situation in the region remains dire. Since January, Pakistan claims to have killed 1,873 militants in thousands of intelligence-based operations. On November 25, the day before the alleged strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistani security forces killed 22 militants during a raid in Bannu, a district near the Afghan border. The Pakistani military described these insurgents as “Indian-backed” fighters and used the term Khawarij—a term the government and military use for militants they allege are supported by Afghanistan and India. Both Kabul and New Delhi have denied providing any support to such groups. In a statement, the Pakistani army declared, “Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
For the people caught in the crossfire, the political rhetoric and military maneuvers offer little comfort. In Khost, the images of locals preparing graves for the victims, children’s clothing pulled from the rubble, and a young boy sitting beside the ruins of his home paint a grim portrait of the human cost of this ongoing conflict. The destroyed home of Shariat Khan became a symbol of the tragedy, underscoring the vulnerability of civilians in the region.
Meanwhile, the international community is watching warily. The involvement of regional powers like Qatar, Turkey, and Iran in mediation efforts reflects broader fears that instability along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border could spill over and threaten peace across South and Central Asia. The United Nations and other humanitarian organizations have called for restraint and a renewed commitment to dialogue, but with both sides standing firm, the path to a lasting resolution remains uncertain.
As the dust settles in Khost and tensions simmer along the border, the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan are left to grapple with the consequences. The latest escalation is a stark reminder that, in this volatile region, the lines between politics, security, and civilian life are often tragically blurred.
