Pakistan carried out airstrikes overnight in eastern Afghanistan, Islamabad said on Monday, as the Taliban government confirmed that Pakistani strikes in eastern provinces of Afghanistan killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 on Monday.

Pakistan’s information minister said the operations killed 25 militants and were aimed at a group that it blames for a deadly weekend attack in Karachi, though Afghan authorities have repeatedly denied their territory harbors militants.

“Three targets in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed during precision strikes,” said Information Minister Attaullah Tarar in a statement. He said four militants were also killed in ground operations.

He added the offensive also included ground operations in border areas and targeted Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the TTP splinter group.

In the latest attack, explosives detonated and gunmen fired inside a Rangers paramilitary camp in Karachi on Saturday in one of the worst militant attacks in Pakistan’s most populous city in years.

Authorities said three paramilitary personnel were killed and that they had detained an Afghan national, one of several people involved in the attack.

The Taliban government said the airstrikes in three eastern provinces killed or wounded dozens of civilians. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the military action, calling it a “cowardly act of aggression.”

The neighbors agreed to a ceasefire in March but there have been sporadic attacks since, with Pakistani strikes in June killing 13 people according to Afghan officials.

Pakistan and Afghanistan went to war in late February, with weeks of violence killing hundreds and displacing tens of thousands, and the frontier has been largely closed since cross-border violence in October. (AFP)