The Pakistani military killed at least three people and wounded 45 others in an Afghan border province on Monday, the Taliban authorities said.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the two neighbors went to war in late February, according to UN figures, although the violence has abated in recent weeks.
In Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, information chief Najibullah Hanif said Pakistani mortar fire and airstrikes had been widespread on Monday.
“Since this afternoon, attacks have been launched from Pakistan on the capital of Kunar, Asadabad,” and three other districts, he told AFP.
“According to initial information, 45 people have been wounded, and three people have died in these attacks,” he said.
Farid Dehqan Salarzai, a provincial police spokesman, said two people were killed and 45 wounded, citing Kunar’s public health department.
Hanif said the sites hit included the “hostel of the central university” in Asadabad and the neighborhood in front of the facility.
Pakistan’s information ministry denied attacking residential areas, calling any such claim a “blatant lie” in a post on X.
The latest reported violence follows fierce fighting along the frontier earlier this year, as well as unprecedented Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan cities including the capital Kabul.
A days-long ceasefire was agreed in March, and mediator China later said the warring sides had agreed to avoid escalation.
But Afghans have since reported sporadic violence.
“We’ve been in a bad situation for almost two months. Sometimes the fighting is intense, and sometimes it’s not,” Mushtaq Wazir, who lives in the border province of Paktika, told AFP.
He said one person was killed in clashes on Monday, and four others wounded at the weekend.
Suhbat Katwazi, from Barmal, the same district in Paktika, told AFP that Monday’s death was caused by a mortar shell that hit the person’s home.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fraught since Taliban officials took power for a second time in 2021.
Security issues have proved a sticking point, especially Pakistan’s demand that Afghanistan curb the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of sheltering militants behind a surge in attacks, particularly the TTP which has waged a violent campaign against Pakistan for years.
Afghan officials deny the charge and counter that Pakistan harbors hostile groups and does not respect its sovereignty.
The border between the neighbors has remained largely closed since a flare-up in deadly violence in October, freezing bilateral trade.
