Afghanistan death toll in 'Pakistan strikes' rises to at least 47: officials

The death toll from Pakistani military air strikes in the eastern Afghanistan provinces of Khost and Kunar has jumped to at least 47, officials said Sunday, as Islamabad urged Kabul to act against militants launching attacks from Afghan soil.

Border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militant groups are carrying out regular attacks from Afghan soil.

The Taliban deny harbouring Pakistani militants, but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre (1,600-mile) border.

Tension between the two neighbours further deepened after Saturday's pre-dawn air assault which Afghan officials now claim was carried out by Pakistani military helicopters.

The air strikes hit residential houses in Khost and Kunar along the border, Afghan officials said. Earlier officials had said Pakistani forces had fired rockets.
-------------
*** Militants from a banned Pakistani group claimed responsibility for an attack that killed five police officers and wounded four others in a northwestern region.

A police official told RFE/RL that a rocket struck a police van they were riding in on April 11 in the district of Dera Ismail Khan.

The outlawed Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place near South Waziristan, an area on the border with Afghanistan that was once the headquarters of the group.

Also known as the Pakistani Taliban, the TTP has increased its attacks in the northwest, targeting the security forces over the past few months.