Pakistani airstrikes kill 36 civilians in Afghanistan and wound 160, officials say

KABUL, Afghanistan — Pakistani forces' ground operations and strikes killed at least 36 civilians in Afghanistan overnight and wounded more than 160 others, Afghan officials said Monday, as tensions between the neighbors escalated.One Afghan official said the attacks would be met with retaliation.Pakistan said the operations were launched in response to militant attacks across Pakistan.

Security forces carried out a ground operation along the border late Sunday, followed by strikes against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.Afghanistan condemned the strikes in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces as a "cowardly act of aggression" and an "act of brutality." Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the deputy minister for publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture, said Afghanistan would respond "in due time."Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson for Afghanistan's Taliban government, said Pakistani forces targeted a home in Paktia's Chamkani district, killing an older man and a child, while other family members were wounded.When residents gathered to rescue people, the area was struck again, killing 28 villagers and wounding 158, he said.Six people, mostly women and children, were killed in a village in Giyan district, Paktika province, when another home was struck, he said.

A civilian home in Kunar province was also hit, causing no casualties but killing some 30 livestock.Pakistani officials said an uneasy calm prevailed along the border Monday, with security forces remaining on high alert.On Monday, Afghanistan and Pakistan summoned each other's top diplomats to protest the attacks.Zia Ahmad Takal, the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesperson, accused Islamabad of repeatedly blaming Afghanistan for security incidents inside Pakistan without "credible evidence."Pakistan's behavior "seriously harms the atmosphere of trust between the two countries, good neighborly relations and ...