What happens when fragile peace starts to crack again along a tense border?
That’s the question hanging over eastern Kunar Province after deadly strikes reportedly killed at least seven people and injured 75 others.
Multiple sources told the BBC that students and a professor at Kunar University were among the wounded.
With the Taliban government saying around 30 of the injured are students.
Imagine being in a lecture hall—and suddenly hearing explosions nearby.
One professor described “terrifying blasts across the campus,” turning an ordinary day into chaos.
The Taliban say mortars and rockets were fired, while other accounts suggest jets and drones may have been involved.
Pakistan, however, strongly denies targeting civilian or educational sites. Its information ministry called the reports “fake.”
Ceasefire Under Strain
A journalist in Asadabad said he heard the bombardment around 2 pm and saw people fleeing the town centre in panic.
“I knew of several civilians who had been injured,” he told the BBC.
Tensions like this aren’t new. Just weeks ago, a reported Pakistani airstrike in Kabul killed hundreds, according to UN-linked figures.
And despite a recent fragile ceasefire—helped by Chinese mediation in Urumqi—violence appears to be resurfacing.
The Taliban have called the latest strikes “grave and inexcusable war crimes,” while Pakistan says its operations target militant groups.
But here’s the uneasy truth—when every side claims self-defence, who defines the line between security and escalation?
