New Delhi: Dozens of Afghan civilians were killed or injured after the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) carried out airstrikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Afghan authorities said, while Islamabad maintained the operation targeted militant groups responsible for recent suicide attacks inside Pakistan.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “dozens of people” were killed and wounded in strikes in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
“Certain Pakistani military circles have once again violated Afghan territory. Last night, they carried out airstrikes in the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika, bombing our civilian compatriots. Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed and injured. Pakistani generals are attempting to compensate for their security shortcomings at home through such acts.” Mujahid wrote in a post on X.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed the strikes in a separate post on X, describing them as intelligence-based operations conducted after three attacks in Pakistan since the start of Ramadan last week. “Pakistan has carried out intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates in the border region,” Tarar said.
According to Tarar, the operation also targeted an affiliate of the Islamic State group, which had claimed responsibility for a recent mosque bombing in Islamabad that killed 31 people and injured more than 160. Pakistani officials have described the attack as one of the deadliest in the capital since the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing.
In a statement, the Pakistani military said it had repeatedly urged Afghan Taliban authorities to take “verifiable measures” to prevent Afghan territory from being used by militant groups and foreign proxies to carry out attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban regime, it alleged, had “failed to undertake any substantive action against them”.
“Pakistan has always strived to maintain peace and stability in the region, but the safety and security of our citizens remains our top priority,” the military said, describing the strikes as a “retributive response”. It added that the targeted camps were linked to the Pakistani Taliban, its affiliates and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), and that the operation was carried out “with precision and accuracy”.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have worsened since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban-led government of allowing Afghan soil to be used to shelter anti-Pakistan militants. The Taliban government in Kabul has denied those allegations.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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