hubs" along the border. AFP journalists saw a destroyed house in Patan village, where dozens gathered for funerals—the first deadly cross-border strikes since June. Farmer Mubin Khan, injured in the attack, told AFP: "During the night we were targeted... the house got destroyed”, adding that three family members died. Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on X that Nurgal district, where Patan is located, was attacked around 3:00 am (2230 GMT Sunday). The strike "completely destroyed" a house, killing three and wounding four members of the same family. Two locations in Paktika province were also bombed, with no casualties reported.

Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Ministry confirmed strikes on three locations, saying "terrorist hubs" were targeted "based on credible intelligence." It claimed "28 terrorists alongside multiple suicide bombers" were killed—a figure the Taliban government rejected as "not true”. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the "aggression," saying "Afghans will give it an appropriate response." The strikes followed Friday's attack on a police headquarters in northern Pakistan that killed at least 31 people, including 16 officers. Local faction Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, linked to the jihadist group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of supporting jihadist groups behind deadly attacks on its territory—an allegation the Taliban government denies. Previous deadly Pakistani airstrikes in June killed around thirty people; Pakistan said it targeted a TTP faction and killed fighters, while the Taliban reported civilian casualties. Relations have been particularly tense since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan escalated bombings early this year, including on Kabul. The deadliest strike, on March 16, hit a drug treatment hospital in the Afghan capital, killing at least 269 civilians, according to the United Nations. (Bssnews)