Afghanistan vows retaliation against Pakistan for deadly strikes

Afghanistan's Taliban government vowed Tuesday to "respond appropriately" to overnight strikes it blamed on neighbouring Pakistan that killed 10 people, as tensions spiked the day after a suicide bombing in a Pakistani city.

An air raid on Khost province left nine children and a woman "martyred", Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X, blaming Pakistani forces and saying the target was "the house of a local civilian resident".

Residents of the targeted area near the Pakistan frontier were searching through the rubble of a collapsed house and preparing graves for victims, an AFP correspondent saw.

"Our request from the government of Pakistan is this: do not bomb ordinary people," said Sajidulrahman, a resident of the Jige Mughalgai area.

"Civilians have done nothing wrong."

Mustaghfir Gurbuz, a spokesman for the governor of Khost, said the strikes were carried out by drones and aircraft.

The nearby border regions of Kunar and Paktika were also hit, leaving at least four people wounded, government spokesman Mujahid said.

"The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns this violation and reiterates that defending its airspace, territory, and people is its legitimate right, and it will respond appropriately at the right time," Mujahid said in a separate statement.

The Pakistani military did not comment on the strikes when contacted by AFP.

The bombardment came after a suicide attack on Monday killed three officers and wounded 11 others at the headquarters of Pakistan's paramilitary Federal Constabulary force in Peshawar.

No group has claimed responsibility, but state broadcaster PTV reported the attackers were Afghan nationals.

President Asif Zardari blamed the "foreign-backed Fitna al-Khawarij" -- Islamabad's term for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group it accuses of operating from Afghan soil.

Another suicide blast earlier this month killed 12 people outside a court in the Pakistani capital. It was claimed by a faction of the Pakistan Taliban, which shares the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban.

Islamabad has said the militant cell behind the capital attack was "guided at every step by the... high command based in Afghanistan".