Afghan Taliban forces targeted “several points” in neighboring Pakistan, Afghanistan’s defense ministry said on Saturday, days after Pakistani aircraft carried out aerial bombardment inside Afghanistan.

The ministry explained that the strikes targeted areas serving as hideouts for militants and their supporters.

It is the first public admission by a senior Taliban leader regarding the presence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan operatives in the country

A Taliban government official says Pakistan’s airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children.

Pakistan has carried out air strikes on eastern Afghanistan, killing 46 civilians, the Taliban regime said on Wednesday.

Pakistan's airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children, a Taliban government official said Wednesday. Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said that six people were also wounded in the Paktika province bordering Pakistan.

Officials say rare Pakistani airstrikes have targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighboring Afghanistan, dismantling a training facility and killing some insurgents.

At least 19 Pakistani soldiers and three Afghan civilians died after heavy clashes erupted between security forces of the two neighbouring nations at the border crossing points, media reports said on Saturday.

Taliban forces struck“ several points” in Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani attacks on Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Taliban government said on Saturday that it struck "several points" inside neighboring Pakistan.