The ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan is jeopardised following claims by Taliban officials that Pakistani artillery struck civilian areas, including a university, in Kunar, resulting in four deaths and numerous injuries. Pakistan has disputed these allegations.
The fragile ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan is at risk after Taliban officials on Monday claimed that mortars and missiles fired by Islamabad struck a civilian area, including a university in the Kunar district on Monday, killing at least four people and injuring several others. However, Pakistan denied the claims.
Notably, these alleged strikes were the first incident of cross-border strikes since Chinese-mediated peace talks between the two neighbouring countries. As per Taliban officials, the Pakistan strikes targeted homes and the Syed Jamaluddin Afghani University in Kunar’s Asadabad area.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban’s deputy spokesperson, claimed that around 70 people were injured in the strikes, including around 30 students and several children. “Today, April 27, 2026, the military regime of Pakistan once again conducted artillery shelling using mortars and rockets against multiple areas of Asadabad, the provincial capital of Kunar, as well as parts of Manogai District,” Fitrat said in his X post, along with sharing the pictures of the injured.
“In these attacks, which commenced at 2:00 PM, civilian residences, including Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University, were deliberately targeted; as a result, 70 civilians, among them women and children, were injured, including 30 students, while four individuals were martyred,” he added.
Notably, Pakistan and Afghanistan had been involved in months of deadly clashes that killed hundreds of people since February this year.
In March this year, both countries announced a temporary ceasefire in hostilities in the view of Eid al-Fitr. Kabul and Islamabad indicated that the pause was requested by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, aiming to provide a respite from ongoing conflict, reported The Associated Press.
