PAKISTANI AIRSTRIKES KILL FOUR CIVILIANS IN AFGHANISTAN, TALIBAN SAYS

Pakistani airstrikes killed four civilians in Afghanistan, the Taliban government said, in the latest escalation between the two countries. The strikes hit Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces, according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Pakistan said its forces struck 10 targets, without specifying their locations, describing the action as "strictly limited to identified military objectives," according to Pakistan's Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar. Pakistan said the targets had been used to launch drone attacks against it the previous day. Taliban officials denied launching any drones on Wednesday.

In Paktia, jets bombed the Afghan Armed Forces' 203 Mansouri Corps, which is under Taliban control; no casualty details were given. In Khost, a Taliban spokesman said houses were damaged but no one was killed. An eyewitness there, Abdullah, said the strikes happened around midnight and caused "panic all around," adding that a village elder later confirmed no one had died. Another Khost resident, Salamat Khan, said the area had "no military base... only the homes of ordinary civilians." A Kandahar resident described hearing a jet, an explosion, and then a fire in the city.

The strikes marked the second wave of Pakistani air raids on Afghan territory within a week, following an attack on a mosque at a police compound in north-western Pakistan on 18 September that killed at least 31 people, linked to a group affiliated with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The exchange follows three months of relative calm between the Taliban government and Pakistan. Mujahid called the latest strikes "reckless, careless, and hostile," warning they "will have adverse consequences for the Pakistani military." The Taliban said there would be an "appropriate response," while Pakistan said any further "provocative act" would be met with a response.