KABUL: Afghanistan announced Wednesday that fresh Pakistani airstrikes killed at least 13 people and wounded 14 others across the border provinces of Khost, Kunar, and Paktika.

Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stated that the casualties included 11 children, one woman, and an elderly man. Pakistan did not immediately acknowledge the strikes.

The bombardment follows a deadly incident on Tuesday, where suspected Pakistani Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in Hasan Khel, a border area in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The resulting intense gunbattle left six Pakistani Federal Constabulary members dead and several wounded, while security forces killed eight attackers to defend the post.

Following the funeral in Peshawar, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi vowed to intensify operations against militant groups.

The cross-border violence marks the latest escalation in months of deadly fighting between the two nations, which intensified in late February after Afghanistan launched retaliatory cross-border attacks following initial Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghan territory.