Taliban warn Pakistan after rocket attacks kill 5 Afghan children

The Taliban authorities warned Pakistan on Saturday after five children and a woman were killed in Afghanistan in alleged rocket attacks by the Pakistani military in a pre-dawn assault along the border.

Border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militant groups were carrying out attacks from Afghan soil.

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The Taliban deny harbouring Pakistani militants, but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre (1,600-mile) border known as the Durand line, which was drawn up in colonial times.

"Five children and a woman were killed and a man wounded in Pakistani rocket attacks in Shelton district of Kunar," provincial director of information Najibullah Hassan Abdaal told AFP referring to the eastern province of Kunar bordering Pakistan.

Afghanistan's Taliban government warned Islamabad after the attacks.

Ehsanullah, a resident of Shelton district who goes by one name as many Afghans do, said the assault was carried out by Pakistani military aircraft.

A similar pre-dawn assault was carried out in Afghanistan's Khost province near the border, another Afghan government official said.

"Pakistani helicopters bombarded four villages near the Durand line in Khost province," he said on condition of anonymity.

"Only civilian houses were targeted and there were casualties," he added, but did not offer more details.

Afghanistan's Taliban government warned Islamabad after the attacks.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombardment and attack that has taken place from the Pakistan side on the soil of Afghanistan," government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters in an audio message.

"This is a cruelty and it is paving the way for enmity between Afghanistan and Pakistan ... We are using all options to prevent repetitions (of such attacks) and calling for our sovereignty to be respected.

The Pakistani side should know that if a war starts it will not be in the interest of any side. It will cause instability in the region."

Agence France-Presse