Summary
Pakistani fighter jets struck suspected militant hideouts in eastern Afghanistan early Monday. Pakistani security officials say the calibrated airstrikes killed 28 fighters linked to groups operating from Afghan soil. Kabul disputes this account, saying only three civilians died and four others were wounded.
The strikes mark another sharp escalation in the ongoing Pakistan-Afghanistan border conflict, which has simmered since February 2026.
Background
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have been building for months. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban government of sheltering Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders and allowing cross-border terrorist camps to operate freely. Afghanistan denies these allegations.
The airstrikes followed two deadly incidents inside Pakistan in recent days. A suicide bomber struck a mosque inside a police compound in Kohat, and gunmen stormed nearby offices, triggering a 20-hour gunbattle. At least 21 people, mostly police officers, were killed and more than 100 wounded. A day earlier, six Pakistani security personnel, including two army officers, died in a shootout with militants in Hangu district.
No group had claimed responsibility for either attack by the time of Monday’s strikes, though suspicion has fallen on the TTP.
Details
According to two Pakistani security officials, jets struck targets in Nurgal district of Kunar province and Barmal district of Paktika province around 3 a.m. local time. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 28 suspected militants were killed.
Afghan deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat gave a different account. He said a house belonging to a villager, Noor Ahmad, in Nurgal’s Pathan village was destroyed, killing Ahmad and two relatives and wounding four others. Separate strikes in Barmal’s Rakhah and Tor Kundi areas destroyed a shop and an unoccupied house but caused no casualties there, he said.
Pakistan’s military had not issued an official statement on the operation as of Monday afternoon.
Quotes
Afghan Taliban government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid condemned the strikes in a post on X and said there would be a response.
Pakistan’s Information Ministry had already signalled its intent days earlier, calling on Kabul to take “credible, verifiable and sustained measures” against militant sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.
Impact
The strikes threaten to further complicate diplomatic efforts, including mediation attempts by regional powers such as China. Hundreds of people have already been killed in cross-border fighting since February, and Monday’s operation raises the risk of renewed retaliatory action from Kabul, as happened after earlier rounds of strikes this year.
For ordinary residents on both sides of the porous border, the immediate concern is civilian safety. Afghan officials have repeatedly reported non-combatant casualties in these operations, a claim Islamabad disputes.
Conclusion
With no independent verification of casualty figures from either side, the true toll of Monday’s strikes remains unclear. What is certain is that the underlying dispute — Pakistan’s demand that Kabul act against TTP sanctuaries, and Afghanistan’s rejection of that framing — shows no sign of resolution. Further strikes, and further Afghan retaliation, remain a real possibility in the days ahead.
FAQs
Is there a strike today in Pakistan?
The airstrikes on September 21, 2026, were carried out by Pakistan’s air force targeting locations inside eastern Afghanistan, not within Pakistani territory. Pakistan says it acted against militant hideouts it blames for recent attacks on its own soil, in Kohat and Hangu. There is no confirmed strike inside Pakistan itself on this date; the fighting inside Pakistan in recent days has come from gun and bomb attacks by militant groups rather than airstrikes.
Are there bombings in Pakistan?
Yes. In the days leading up to Monday’s cross-border airstrikes, Pakistan suffered two serious attacks: a suicide bombing and armed assault on a police compound in Kohat that killed at least 21 people, and a militant shootout in Hangu that killed six security personnel. These attacks are part of a broader pattern of militant violence that Pakistan says originates from safe havens across the Afghan border.
Is there an airstrike today?
Yes. Pakistani jets carried out airstrikes early Monday, September 21, 2026, on suspected militant hideouts in Kunar and Paktika provinces in eastern Afghanistan. Pakistani officials say the strikes killed 28 militants, while the Afghan government says three civilians were killed and four wounded. Afghanistan’s Taliban administration has condemned the strikes and warned of a response.
