Pakistani Strikes Hit Five Afghan Provinces, Says Taliban

Tom Fletcher, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said Friday during a news conference that many of the victims were women and children and that some civilian infrastructure had also been damaged.

Fletcher said civilian infrastructure, including a hospital at the International Organization for Migration’s transit centre and facilities at a returnee reception centre in Torkham border crossing, had been damaged.

He added that displacement was rising rapidly as the fighting continued. More than 16,000 families have fled their homes, adding to the millions already displaced across Afghanistan.

The UN official also said the closure of border crossings has left more than 168 containers stranded, while the suspension of flights and security restrictions have made it more difficult for the United Nations to reach people in need.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the two officials discussed regional developments, including what it described as the “negative and destabilising consequences of the attack on Iran”.

According to the ministry, Lavrov and Muttaqi also discussed prospects for reducing military and political tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Lavrov stressed the importance of resolving differences between Kabul and Islamabad through political and diplomatic means.

Attaullah Tarar said Pakistani forces have targeted a total of 62 locations across Afghanistan during the fighting.

Speaking on the 11th day of the conflict with the Taliban, Tarar said 237 Taliban outposts had been destroyed and 38 others captured by Pakistani forces.

He added that Pakistani troops had destroyed 205 Taliban tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery units.

Earlier, Enayatullah Khwarizmi, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Defence Ministry, said Taliban forces had carried out offensive attacks on 28 locations in border areas inside Pakistan over the past 24 hours. He claimed the attacks killed 109 Pakistani soldiers and wounded 148 others.

Taliban's defence ministry spokesperson, Enayatullah Khwarizmi said the group's forces launched what he described as “offensive and assault operations” against Pakistani forces in border areas across seven provinces. This includes Kandahar, Nangarhar, Kunar, Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces.

Khwarizmi said Taliban fighters attacked 28 locations along the border and seized and destroyed 14 Pakistani military outposts. He claimed that 109 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 148 others wounded in the attacks.
According to the spokesperson, three Taliban fighters were killed and nine others wounded during the fighting overnight.

Khwarizmi also said Pakistani attacks killed seven civilians in Afghan villages and injured 13 others.

Pakistani authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the reported Taliban attacks.

The Taliban spokesperson added that more than 10 Pakistani military vehicles were destroyed during the clashes. He also claimed that Taliban forces seized “hundreds of light and heavy weapons” from Pakistani troops.

Khwarizmi said Taliban forces also shot down two Pakistani surveillance drones overnight. He added that since the start of the clashes, Taliban fighters have captured and destroyed 64 Pakistani military outposts and seven bases.

He further claimed that a total of 307 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and more than 350 others wounded since the fighting began.

According to UNAMA, 55 percent of the civilian casualties in the fighting are women and children.

In a statement released on Friday, UNAMA said it recorded and verified a total of 185 civilian casualties in Afghanistan between the evening of February 26 and March 5, 2026.

The figures include 56 civilians killed and 129 others wounded as a result of airstrikes and cross-border clashes.

According to the UN mission, one of the incidents occurred in the Barmal district of Paktika province, where 14 civilians were killed in airstrikes. Those killed included four women, two girls, five boys and three men. Six others, two women, one girl, two boys and one man, were injured.

UNAMA said the number of civilians killed in the recent clashes exceeds the casualties recorded during cross-border fighting in October 2025.

During the October clashes last year, 47 civilians were killed and 456 others injured.

According to UN figures, at least 70 civilians were also killed and 478 others injured in Afghanistan during the final three months of 2025.

In addition, between January 1 and February 22, 2026, airstrikes and cross-border shelling in Nangarhar province killed 13 civilians and injured 12 others.

UNAMA has urged both sides involved in the conflict to take immediate measures to protect civilians.

The mission also said the parties to the conflict must adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians.