ASADABAD — Mortars and missiles fired from Pakistan struck Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University and civilian homes in Asadabad, the capital of Afghanistan's Kunar Province, on Monday afternoon, according to Afghan officials. The strikes killed seven people and wounded at least 85, according to Afghan officials and Kunar Information and Culture Director Najibullah Hanafi.

Afghan deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the attack struck Asadabad and various areas in another district of the province on April 27, 2026, and that the wounded included women, children and students at the university. Afghanistan's Ministry of Higher Education said about 30 students and professors were injured in the strike on the campus, which sustained extensive damage to its buildings and grounds.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting dismissed reports that the strikes had targeted a university as a blatant lie. "Pakistan's targeting is precise and intelligence based. No strike has been carried out on Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan University. The claims are frivolous and fake," the ministry said.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi referenced recent diplomacy between the two countries. "You are all aware of our recent problems with Pakistan. The latest negotiations were held in Urumqi under the mediation of China, and these negotiations were positive," Mutaqi said. He added that "The issues between the two countries are very sensitive between neighbors and between two Islamic neighboring countries and should not be treated irresponsibly."

According to Afghan officials, the April 27 strikes were the first violent incident since Chinese-mediated peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier in April 2026. Afghan and Pakistani officials met in Urumqi in western China in early April and agreed not to escalate their conflict and to explore a comprehensive solution, according to China's government. Sporadic cross-border fighting continued while delegations attended the talks. Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have also been involved in mediation between the two countries.

Pakistan and Afghanistan had been engaged in months of deadly fighting since late February 2026 that killed hundreds of people. In late February, Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, and Islamabad declared it was in open war with Afghanistan. The fighting largely subsided in March after the two sides declared a temporary truce for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. On March 17, a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug treatment facility in Kabul. Afghanistan's government said the airstrike killed more than 400 civilians. Pakistan denied targeting civilian facilities in that strike and disputed the death toll.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban. Kabul denies that it harbors militants attacking Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, the conflict had displaced 94,000 people overall.