Pakistan and Afghanistan offered conflicting accounts Thursday as the South Asian neighbors engaged in renewed cross-border clashes.
The Pakistani military launched rare deadly strikes on Helmand province, the Taliban government and residents said.
Conflict has escalated between Afghanistan and Pakistan this year, with sporadic attacks continuing since a March truce failed to resolve security issues.
The latest strikes hit Helmand as well as Kunar, which borders Pakistan, killing 10 civilians, according to the Taliban government's deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat.
Islamabad confirmed "planned and calibrated" strikes in Afghanistan, which it said targeted militants, without detailing locations.
Two Helmand residents told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that three airstrikes hit their village.
Pakistan's information ministry said its forces hit two locations in Afghanistan "based on credible intelligence, selective targeting of terrorist camps and hideouts."
Helmand in southern Afghanistan, along with neighboring Kandahar province, which an airstrike hit last week, is strategically important for the Taliban movement.
Speaking by phone from Helmand's Safar village, 50-year-old resident Abdul Wahid said the strikes killed four people and wounded seven.
Another villager, Qudrat Ullah, said he was home when strikes hit his neighbors' house.
"The whole area is destroyed," the 32-year-old said, adding that authorities kept residents away from the strike sites.
"There were civilians, children, women; they have killed them. There is no military or anything else," he told AFP by phone.
Pakistan's Information Ministry reported an initial toll of 22 militants killed and weapons and ammunition destroyed.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants behind frequent bomb and gun attacks in Pakistan.
The Taliban government denies this and criticizes Pakistan for violating Afghanistan's sovereignty and killing civilians.
In mountainous Kunar province, an AFP journalist saw the remains of stone houses in the remote Chugam Valley.
Mohammad Hashim, a farmer, said he rushed to rescue residents after the predawn attack.
"There was a woman, she was screaming for help to get her out of the rubble. She was having trouble breathing and told us that there are more people over there," the 30-year-old told AFP.
"We went there to dig, and there was a man with four children who were killed," he added.
The latest strikes follow bombardment last week on multiple Afghan provinces, which the Taliban government said killed civilians. Pakistan said it targeted militants.
Violence between the two countries has killed more than 500 civilians since October, according to figures from the United Nations mission in Afghanistan.
