Pakistan has reportedly carried out an airstrike in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunar province, killing at least three people and injuring several others, according to Afghan provincial sources.

The precise location, intended target and identities of those killed were not immediately clear. Pakistan had not publicly confirmed the operation at the time of writing, leaving significant details independently unverified.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government warned that any further attacks would receive a “crushing response.” Kabul, however, also signalled that it remained prepared to keep diplomatic channels open, reflecting an attempt to deter further strikes without immediately closing the door on de-escalation.

The attack follows a particularly violent period inside Pakistan. A bombing and armed assault on a police compound in Kohat killed dozens of people, while six Pakistani soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in neighbouring Hangu district.

Pakistan has repeatedly argued that militants operating from Afghan territory are driving the resurgence of violence in its border provinces. At the centre of these accusations is Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an armed movement seeking to overthrow the Pakistani state.

The TTP is organisationally separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban, but the two movements share ideological, historical and tribal connections. Islamabad says the TTP uses sanctuaries inside Afghanistan to recruit fighters, organise operations and plan attacks across the border. Kabul denies sheltering the group and accuses Pakistan of attempting to blame Afghanistan for its domestic security failures.

The latest attack is part of a continuing pattern. Earlier this year, Afghanistan accused Pakistan of striking civilian areas in Kunar, killing three people and injuring 14. Afghan authorities said schools, mosques and a health centre were damaged. Pakistan rejected that account and questioned the evidence presented by Kabul.

Beneath the immediate security crisis lies a border dispute that is more than a century old. The approximately 2,600-kilometre Durand Line was drawn in 1893 through an agreement between British Indian diplomat Mortimer Durand and Afghan ruler Amir Abdur Rahman Khan.

When Pakistan was created in 1947, it inherited the boundary from British India. Successive Afghan governments, however, have refused to formally recognise it as a permanent international frontier.

The line cuts through the traditional Pashtun homeland, leaving closely connected tribes, villages and families on opposite sides of the border. Afghanistan’s objection is therefore not merely about territory. It is tied to Pashtun identity, tribal movement and the enduring legacy of a boundary imposed during British colonial rule.

Pakistan has constructed fencing along much of the frontier to restrict militant movement and strengthen control over crossings. Afghan forces have objected to parts of the fencing, and confrontations over border posts, construction work and territorial claims have repeatedly caused deadly clashes and the closure of important crossings such as Torkham.

The Kunar strike therefore touches two conflicts simultaneously: Pakistan’s campaign against the TTP and Afghanistan’s rejection of the Durand Line. Unless both countries find a mechanism to address cross-border militancy and the unresolved frontier, each new attack risks widening a counterterrorism dispute into a prolonged conflict between two neighbouring states.