Afghanistan's Taliban government condemned Pakistani airstrikes as a "cowardly act of aggression" after Afghan officials said the overnight operations killed at least 36 civilians and wounded more than 160 others, according to The Associated Press.
In a statement reported by the AP, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid described the strikes as "a crime and an act of brutality." A home in Paktia province's Chamkani district was among the targets, according to Hamdullah Fitrat, a deputy spokesman for Afghanistan's Taliban administration. An elderly man and a child died in that initial strike, Fitrat said. A second strike hit the same area as neighbors arrived to assist the wounded, leaving 28 more people dead and 158 injured, he told the AP. In Paktika province's Giyan district, a separate strike on a residential home left six people dead, the majority of them women and children, Fitrat said.