Zillar Barta Desk : Afghanistan’s Kunar province witnessed funeral ceremonies on Monday for victims killed in an airstrike that Afghan authorities said was carried out by Pakistan. The funerals were held in Nurgal district, where officials said a house was struck in the early hours of September 21.
According to Afghan officials, three members of the same family were killed and four others were injured in the attack. The house was reportedly destroyed in the strike. Images from the funeral showed mourners carrying the body of a victim and preparing the remains for burial.
Afghan Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistani aircraft also struck two locations in Barmal district of neighbouring Paktika province. He said a shop and an unoccupied house were destroyed there, but no casualties were reported.
Pakistan, meanwhile, said its forces had conducted intelligence-based strikes against militant targets along the Afghanistan border and claimed that 28 militants were killed. Pakistani authorities said the operation targeted camps and hideouts linked to militant groups and that precautions were taken to avoid civilian casualties.
The latest strikes come amid renewed tensions between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of allowing militants to operate from Afghan territory, while Kabul has repeatedly rejected the allegations and condemned Pakistani military operations inside Afghanistan.
The funerals in Kunar have further highlighted the civilian cost of the continuing tensions between the two neighbouring countries, as both sides maintain conflicting accounts of the targets and casualties from the latest airstrikes.
