Pakistan conducted overnight airstrikes in two Afghan provinces, with Afghanistan saying the attacks killed nine women and children and injured 11 other civilians, while Pakistan said it had targeted militant hideouts.
Pakistan's Ministry of Information said the strikes targeted militant hideouts at two locations and that initial reports indicated 22 militants were killed. The casualty figures provided by either side could not be independently verified.
The strikes came amid repeated cross-border clashes between the neighboring countries. Pakistan has carried out several airstrikes inside Afghanistan as tensions between the two countries have sharply increased this year. The two countries have long-standing disputes over militant activity along their border.
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan said last week that it had recorded more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan from cross-border violence so far this year.
Pakistan denies targeting civilians, saying its operations are directed at militants responsible for attacks inside the country. Afghanistan, meanwhile, denies providing shelter to militants.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Afghanistan's Taliban government, said the strikes hit civilian homes in southern Helmand province and eastern Kunar province. He said three houses were destroyed, nine women and children were killed and 11 other civilians were injured.
"We condemn this act and consider it an act of aggression and a crime that violates all universally accepted principles," he said.
Pakistan's Ministry of Information described the strikes as "well planned and calibrated" operations against militant hideouts and camps. It said the targets were hit "with precision and accuracy" and that large quantities of weapons and ammunition were found and destroyed.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of allowing militants, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.
The TTP is separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban, which has governed Afghanistan since taking power in 2021. Kabul denies providing the group a safe haven and rejects Pakistan's accusations.
"The threat to Pakistan emanates from Afghanistan," Pakistan's ministry said, adding that its operations had precisely targeted "terrorist hubs."
The ministry said maximum precautions had been taken to prevent civilian casualties and claimed that no collateral damage had occurred. It added that the campaign would continue "at full pace" to eliminate the militant threat.