KABUL, April 27 — Mortar and rocket attacks launched by Pakistan against Afghanistan killed four people on Monday and wounded 70 more, the Taliban government said, as fighting between the countries erupted again and threatened to derail fragile peace talks.
Islamabad has dismissed the reports as "continuous propaganda".
The Taliban's deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said that some 30 students, women, and children were among those wounded in the attacks, which targeted homes and the Syed Jamaluddin Afghani University in Kunar province's Asadabad.
"We strongly condemn these attacks by the Pakistani military regime, in which ordinary people, academic, and educational institutions were targeted, and declare them unforgivable war crimes," he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Pakistan's Information Ministry responded by saying that Kabul's allegations were false.
"Whenever and wherever Pakistan strikes the Afghan-based terror infrastructure, it will be as per previous actions, well declared, fully owned, and backed by precise evidence of targeting terror support infrastructure," it said in a post on X.
The Pakistani military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The worst fighting in years erupted between erstwhile allies in February, with Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds.
Islamabad claims that Kabul provides a safe haven to militants executing attacks on Pakistan from its soil. The Taliban has denied the allegations and said militancy in Pakistan is an internal problem.
The Taliban government reported that over 400 people were killed in a Pakistani strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul last month, before the neighbours suspended fighting. Pakistan rejected the Taliban's statements, saying it "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure".
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan had put the death toll at 143.
Earlier this month, China, which was mediating between the countries, said that it had agreed during peace talks in Urumqi, Xinjiang, to explore a comprehensive solution to their conflict.
Skirmishes have died down since the talks in Urumqi were announced, but there have been reports of a few small clashes. Security officials said that three were killed in mortar shelling by Afghan forces on April 18 in Pakistan's northern Bajaur region.
