Four Pakistani brothers killed in cross-border fire from Afghanistan
Islamabad blames gunfire from across the frontier for the deaths in a border village as both sides exchange strikes and sharply dispute casualties.
Four brothers were killed when cross-border gunfire from Afghanistan struck a home in northwestern Pakistan, Pakistani officials said on Sunday, the latest sign of rapidly escalating tensions along the volatile frontier.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the attack hit a house in the Salarzai area of Bajaur District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border.
The victims were all brothers, Tarar said, adding that a five-year-old child was seriously injured when the house was struck during the firing.
He announced the incident in a post on X. Authorities in Kabul did not immediately comment on the allegation.
The deaths came hours after Islamabad said it carried out overnight strikes inside Afghanistan targeting what it described as militant infrastructure.
Pakistani officials said the operation destroyed a technical support facility and equipment depot in Kandahar, as well as a tunnel allegedly used by the Afghan Taliban and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
They also said a militant “jump-off point” at the Badini post in Afghanistan had been hit.
Conflicting claims over retaliation
Afghan authorities disputed Pakistan’s account of the strikes.
According to Bakhtar News Agency, citing the Afghan defence ministry, Afghan forces retaliated by targeting a Pakistani military base in Wana in South Waziristan, claiming significant damage and heavy casualties among Pakistani troops.
Pakistan’s information ministry rejected the claim, saying only a rudimentary drone had been intercepted over South Waziristan and that no military installation had been hit.
Afghan deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat later said one civilian was killed in Kandahar but reported no casualties from Pakistan’s overnight strikes in the province.
Rising casualties along the border
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks as cross-border violence intensifies.
Pakistan says clashes since late February have killed 105 people, including 13 soldiers and five civilians on its side. Afghan authorities report that 13 soldiers and 73 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan.
Data from the United Nations shows that at least 185 civilian casualties — including 56 deaths from indirect fire and aerial attacks — were recorded in Afghanistan between February 26 and March 5.
Islamabad insists it targets only militants and accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants who launch attacks inside Pakistan — a charge Kabul denies.
Both governments have issued sharply different casualty figures for the clashes, which could not be independently verified.