Hafiz Abdul Bari Rashid Helmandi, the Taliban’s head of information and culture in Helmand, has said that four women and children were killed and eight other civilians injured in a Pakistani airstrike on the province.
Helmandi said the strikes were carried out at around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 1, at three locations in the Safar area of Garm Sir district.
According to him, two homes and a site where Eid prayers were held were targeted in the strikes.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said the strikes were carried out based on “credible intelligence” and that 22 “terrorists” were killed as a result.
Pakistan said that as part of its ongoing “Ghazab lil-Haq” operation, its forces carried out airstrikes on two hideouts belonging to groups it calls “Fitna al-Khawarij” and “Fitna al-Hindustan,” as well as their affiliates, in Afghanistan. The Taliban, however, say the victims of the strikes were civilians.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of sheltering armed groups. The Taliban reject the accusation and say insecurity in Pakistan is an internal problem of that country.
