Media: Pakistani airstrike on Afghanistan kills at least three

At least three people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike in northeastern Afghanistan on September 21, according to Afghan officials, raising concerns over renewed tensions between the two neighbouring countries after nearly three months of relative calm.

Najibullah Hanif, head of the Information and Culture Department in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, said the Pakistani military carried out an airstrike in Nurgal district at around 3 a.m. local time, ToloNews reports. 

#BREAKING
Najibullah Hanif, head of Kunar’s Department of Information and Culture, says Pakistan’s military carried out an airstrike in Nurgal district of Kunar province at around 3 a.m. today, martyring three people and injuring several others.

According to Hanif, a house was… pic.twitter.com/UCvdbgj3sT

— TOLOnews English (@TOLONewsEnglish) September 21, 2026

“Martyring three people and injuring several others,” Hanif said, adding that a house was completely destroyed in the strike.

The reported attack comes days after an assault on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan that killed at least 16 people.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense since February, when the two sides became involved in their most serious clashes in years.

At the centre of the dispute is Pakistan’s accusation that Afghanistan’s Taliban government is allowing militant groups to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks into Pakistan.

The Taliban government rejects the allegations, maintaining that militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue for Islamabad to address.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif subsequently said that Pakistan and Afghanistan were in a state of open armed conflict.