Four Killed, 70 Injured in Mortar, Rocket Attacks by Pakistan, Afghan Taliban Says

28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armored vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (dpa)
28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armored vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (dpa)
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Four Killed, 70 Injured in Mortar, Rocket Attacks by Pakistan, Afghan Taliban Says

28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armored vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (dpa)
28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armored vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (dpa)

Mortar and rocket attacks launched by Pakistan against Afghanistan killed four people on Monday and injured 70 more, the Taliban government said, as fighting between the countries erupted again and threatened to derail fragile peace talks.

Pakistan's government dismissed the claims as a "blatant lie."

About 30 students, women, and children were among those injured in the attacks, which targeted homes and the Syed Jamaluddin Afghani University in Kunar province's Asadabad, the Taliban's deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said.

"We strongly condemn these attacks by the ‌Pakistani military regime, in ‌which ordinary people, academic, and educational institutions ‌were ⁠targeted, and declare ⁠them unforgivable war crimes," he said in a post on X.

Pakistan's information ministry in a post on X said no strike had been carried out on the university. "The claims are frivolous and fake," it said.

The Pakistani military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The worst fighting in years erupted between ⁠the allies-turned-foes in February, with Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan ‌that Islamabad said targeted militant ‌strongholds.

Islamabad has said Kabul provides safe haven to militants executing attacks ‌on Pakistan from its soil. The Taliban has denied the ‌allegations and said militancy in Pakistan is an internal problem.

More than 400 people were killed in a Pakistani strike on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul last month, the Taliban had said, before the ‌neighbors suspended fighting. Pakistan rejected the Taliban's statements, saying it "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure".

The ⁠United Nations ⁠Assistance Mission in Afghanistan had put the death toll at 143.

China, which was mediating between the countries, said earlier this month that they had agreed during peace talks in Urumqi to explore a comprehensive solution to their conflict.

Skirmishes have died down since the talks in Urumqi were announced, but there have been reports of a few small clashes. Three people were killed in mortar shelling by Afghan forces on April 18 in Pakistan's northern Bajaur region, security officials said.



Iran Says Funeral for Late Supreme Leader Khamenei to Begin July 4, Burial Set for July 9

A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Says Funeral for Late Supreme Leader Khamenei to Begin July 4, Burial Set for July 9

A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman holds an image of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Funeral for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will begin in Tehran on July ‌4 and ‌conclude with his ‌burial ⁠in the northeastern ⁠city of Mashhad on July 9, state media reported ⁠on Saturday.

Khamenei, ‌was ‌killed in ‌Israeli and ‌US strikes on Iran in February. His death ‌marked the end of more ⁠than ⁠three decades at the helm of the Iranian Republic, said Reuters.


North Korea Condemns US Missile Sale Approval to South Korea

A North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, Liaoning province, China June 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, Liaoning province, China June 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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North Korea Condemns US Missile Sale Approval to South Korea

A North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, Liaoning province, China June 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, Liaoning province, China June 8, 2026. (Reuters)

North Korea's foreign ministry condemned a US decision to approve the sale of advanced air-to-air missiles and related equipment to South Korea, warning the move would worsen tensions on the Korean peninsula, state media KCNA said on Saturday.

The ministry's director-general for external policy said in a statement carried ‌by KCNA ‌that military cooperation between Washington ‌and ⁠Seoul was being "systematically strengthened" despite ⁠what it called international concern over rising tensions in and around the peninsula.

The official cited the US State Department's approval of a nearly $300 million foreign military sale of advanced air-to-air missiles and related ⁠equipment to South Korea as ‌the latest example.

"US ‌arms exports are war exports," the official said, adding ‌that North Korea would continue strengthening ‌its self-defensive deterrent to maintain the regional balance of power.

North Korea routinely criticizes US-South Korea military cooperation as preparation for war.

It separately criticized ‌South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung over a joint statement with ⁠European Union ⁠leaders during a visit to Europe, which described North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons state and its military cooperation with Russia as "illegal", KCNA said on Saturday.

KCNA said it was a violation of North Korea's sovereignty, South Korea had shown there could be no "peaceful coexistence" between the two Koreas and that Pyongyang would continue to regard the South as a hostile state.


Swedish Fighters Intercept Russian Jets near Border

A general view of the Swedish capital Stockholm (Reuters)
A general view of the Swedish capital Stockholm (Reuters)
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Swedish Fighters Intercept Russian Jets near Border

A general view of the Swedish capital Stockholm (Reuters)
A general view of the Swedish capital Stockholm (Reuters)

Sweden said Saturday it had scrambled two pairs of JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets a day earlier to intercept two Russian combat aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea near its airspace, reported AFP.

The two incidents occurred Friday in the southern and northern parts of the Baltic Sea. NATO fighter jets also took off "to maintain security in the shared airspace," Sweden's military said in a statement.

Swedish airspace was not violated in connection with the incidents, it said.

"The Russian actions are serious and constitute a recurring pattern of behavior that threatens both our territorial integrity and security," Vice Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum, the armed forces' chief of joint operations, said in the statement.

Sweden joined NATO in March 2024.

Tensions over the Baltic Sea have risen sharply since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.