KABUL: An airstrike by Pakistan in the Barmal district of Paktika province in Afghanistan has killed 15 including women and children. The death toll is expected to rise. News agencies are also reporting that five members of a family were killed in the attack targeting seven villages, including Laman.

The village of Murg Bazaar in Barmal was also reported to have been completely destroyed. The airstrike is expected to increase tensions in the region. Taliban's defense ministry has declared to retaliate after the airstrike. Although Pakistan has not officially confirmed the airstrike, sources close to the military said that the attack targeted Taliban hideouts near the border.

The attack was carried out in a mountainous area of Paktika province near the Pakistani border, officials told a national media, and a village was completely destroyed. A training camp was reportedly destroyed and some militants were also killed in the attack.

The Taliban's defense ministry said that most of the victims were refugees from the Waziristan region. The ministry, which described the airstrike as cowardice, said that Pakistan's unilateral airstrikes are not a solution to any problem and that it considers the defense of its territory as its inalienable right.