Afghan officials say Pakistani strikes killed 7 and wounded 85 in first attacks since peace talks

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Mortars and missiles fired from Pakistan on Monday struck a university and civilian homes in northeastern Afghanistan, killing seven people and wounding at least 85, Afghan officials said. Pakistan dismissed the accusation of targeting a university.

The strikes were the first violent incident since Chinese-mediated peace talks between the two sides earlier this month.

Pakistan and Afghanistan had been embroiled in months of deadly fighting that has killed hundreds of people since late February, when Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Islamabad had declared it was in open war with Afghanistan, in an escalation of violence that alarmed the international community.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting dismissed Afghan media reports and official statements about the strikes on the university as “a blatant lie.”

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. The group is separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies the charge.

Afghan and Pakistani officials met in Urumqi in western China in early April, and had agreed not to escalate their conflict and “explore a comprehensive solution,” China’s government had said after mediating the talks.

Monday’s strikes marked the first major attack since the talks, highlighting the tenuous nature of peace efforts mediated by the international community. Apart from China, other nations that have been involved in mediation between the two sides at various times include Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The fighting largely subsided in March, after the two sides declared a temporary truce for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The truce followed a deadly Pakistani airstrike on March 17 on a drug treatment facility in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that Afghanistan said killed more than 400 civilians. Pakistan denied targeting civilian facilities and disputed the death toll.

Still, sporadic cross-border fighting had continued even while delegations from the two sides were attending the talks in Urumqi.

Afghan deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Monday’s mortar and missile attack struck the city of Asadabad, the capital of Kunar Province, as well as various areas in another district in the province on Monday afternoon.

Kunar Information and Culture Director Najibullah Hanafi said the death toll stood at seven, with 85 people wounded.

Fitrat said the wounded included women, children and students at the Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University, and described the attacks as "an unforgivable war crime, barbarity, and provocative act.”

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education said about 30 students and professors were injured in the strike on the university, which it said had caused extensive damage to the facility’s buildings and grounds.

In a statement, Pakistan's information ministry said that “Pakistan’s targeting is precise and intelligence based. No strike has been carried out on Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan University. The claims are frivolous and fake.”

On Saturday, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi described the recent negotiations in China as “positive.”

“You are all aware of our recent problems with Pakistan. The latest negotiations were held in Urumqi under the mediation of China, and these negotiations were positive,” he said during a graduation ceremony at the foreign ministry’s Diplomacy Institute.

The issues between the two countries “are very sensitive between neighbors and between two Islamic neighboring countries and should not be treated irresponsibly,” he added.

Earlier this month, the United Nations’ office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in Afghanistan said the conflict had displaced 94,000 people overall.

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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece contributed to this report.