Overview
- Afghan officials said mortars and rockets fired from Pakistan hit Asadabad in Kunar on Monday, striking homes and Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University and causing civilian casualties.
- UN monitors reported tens of civilians killed or injured in the city and confirmed damage at the university, while Pakistan’s information ministry denied any strike on the campus or residential areas.
- By Wednesday, Pakistani troops had targeted and destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts near Chaman in what Islamabad called a response to unprovoked aggression, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi praising the action.
- Casualty figures from Kunar varied across Afghan sources, with reports ranging from four to seven killed and 45 to 85 wounded, and Pakistan labeling the university strike claim a blatant lie.
- The exchanges threaten a fragile pause set after early April talks in Urumqi led by China, as UN agencies track rising displacement across the conflict with about 94,000 people forced from their homes and students describing panic during the blasts on campus.