Taliban claims Pakistani airstrikes killed 46

A Taliban government official said the airstrikes Pakistan launched on Afghanistan Tuesday killed 46 people, including women and children, according to The Associated Press. 

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson for the Afghan government, said the strikes hit four locations in the district of Barmal.

Pakistani security officials told the AP their mission was to kill insurgents and bomb a training facility. 

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry in the capital of Kabul said the nation “will not accept the violation of the country’s territory under any circumstances, and the country is ready to defend its independence and territory.”

The statement declared Pakistan’s actions “irresponsible” and said there would be subsequent “consequences.”

The Foreign Ministry also said the Pakistani strikes were designed to “create mistrust in the relations between the two countries.”

Although Pakistani officials did not directly respond to the claims, Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, was on the ground in Kabul to discuss a range of issues before the airstrike.

Pakistan’s leaders are blaming the Taliban for the uptick in recent militant attacks within its borders and have responded with strikes inside Afghanistan. 

The Taliban has denied those reports.