Pakistan Air Force strike kills 30 in Khyber Valley village, protest erupts | What we know

At least 30 people, including children and women, were killed in airstrikes carried out by the Pakistan Air Force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

At least 30 people, including children and women, were killed in airstrikes carried out by the Pakistan Air Force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, NDTV reported.

Videos shared on social media platforms showed injured children lying on makeshift beds as locals around assessed the damage.

The Pakistan Air Force dropped at least eight LS-6 bombs on the Matre Dara village located in the Tirah Valley at around 2am, according to reports. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were the target of the attack.

According to the police, Pakistani Taliban fighters stored bomb-making material in a compound, which exploded during the strikes. It is expected that the toll will increase, given that several houses were damaged in the attack.

Here's what we know about the air strikes:

• Local police officer Zafar Khan claimed that two local Pakistani Taliban commanders, Aman Gul and Masood Khan, had set up hideouts in the compound, which was being used as a bomb factory, according to the Associated Press.
• Khan claims that the militants were using civilians as human shields and said they had recently stored weapons in mosques in other districts.
• Footage shared on social media platforms showed injured children lying on makeshift beds as locals assess the damage.

• Leaders from Pakistan's opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have condemned the strikes and have accused their government of targeting its own people.
• “If in Tirah Akakhel, our own protectors have mercilessly martyred innocent children, youth, and women, staining the earth with blood. This is an open crime against humanity,” Member Provincial Assembly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Abdul Ghani Afridi wrote on X.
• Ghani also described the aftermath of the strikes as catastrophic and called for accountability and justice for what he termed “state brutality”.

• "In Upper Tirah Akakhel, the bombing by Pakistani jet aircraft has unleashed a minor apocalypse. That valley where children once laughed heartily is now filled with their tiny corpses... This is open tyranny, this is state oppression, and it is a black stain on the forehead of history that can never be erased," Afridi wrote.
• No statement has been issued by the Pakistan government regarding the bombing so far.
• A senior police officer stationed in the town of Tirah told AFP that the fighter jets targeted four homes, without saying who carried out at the assault.
• Meanwhile, about 2,000 people gathered in a nearby town to protest against the deadly airstrikes on Monday afternoon.
• The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was "deeply shocked" to learn of the deaths. "We demand that the authorities carry out an immediate and impartial inquiry into the incident and hold to account those responsible," it said, according to AFP.
• There has been a significant increase in militant attacks in Pakistan, with the majority claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, which is allied with the Afghan Taliban.
• Although the TTP is a separate group, it has become more confident since the Afghan Taliban regained power in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters are thought to have taken refuge in Afghanistan.