Pakistan has reportedly killed 30 of its civilians in the northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday. The air force is said to have conducted the deadly strikes at around 2 am using the China-made JF-17 Thunder jets.
News reports have said the swarm of aircraft dropped at least LS-6 bombs, which have also been supplied to Islamabad by Beijing.
Unverified visuals shared social media show homes turned to rubble in the Matre Dara village. Many bodies, including those of women and children, were also seen in the disturbing videos.
Local media said the air force were targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan hideouts in the area. The Afghanistan-bordering region has been an hotbed of multiple military operations over the years.
Operations against Tehreek-e-Taliban
Just last week, Pakistan's military said it had killed 31 local Taliban militants in two separate operations near the border with Afghanistan, where the group's presence has increased.
Militancy has surged in the border regions with Afghanistan since the return to power of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul in 2021.
Security officials have told AFP that the presence of TTP militants has increased over the past two months.
The TTP, which is waging a campaign against security forces, is a separate group from the Afghan Taliban, but they are closely linked.
Islamabad accuses neighbouring Afghanistan of failing to expel militants using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, which authorities in Kabul deny.
More than 460 people, mostly members of the security forces, have been killed this year in attacks carried out by armed groups fighting the state, both in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southern province of Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
Last year was Pakistan's deadliest in nearly a decade, with more than 1,600 killed, nearly half of them soldiers and police officers, according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.
(With AFP inputs)
