Pakistan's security forces conducted ground operations and air strikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, reportedly killing 29 fighters. This action was taken in response to multiple attacks by armed groups within Pakistan. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that three targets in Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces were destroyed during precision strikes. The operations targeted hideouts and safe havens of the Pakistan Taliban and other armed groups, with four additional fighters linked to the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of Pakistan's Taliban killed in ground attacks in the Bajaur district.
The Afghan Taliban government, however, reported a significantly higher civilian toll. Their deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, claimed the Pakistani strikes killed at least 36 civilians and wounded 163 others, while the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 injured. The bulk of UNAMA's reported casualties, 28 deaths and 158 injuries, stemmed from Pakistani jets bombing a home in Paktia province, with local residents describing two subsequent strikes on the same area.
These operations occurred less than three weeks after Pakistan's military conducted similar air strikes on alleged fighter group hideouts in Afghanistan. The current escalation follows months of tit-for-tat military actions that have resulted in hundreds of deaths in cross-border fighting since February. Internationally mediated peace talks, including those hosted by China, have failed to establish a lasting ceasefire, further straining the already tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of harboring militants, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, a claim Kabul denies.
The attacks came a day after militants, identified as a breakaway faction of the Pakistan Taliban called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), targeted the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi with guns and explosives, killing three soldiers. Pakistan's Information Minister Tarar explicitly linked the cross-border operations to this incident and other recent terrorist attacks within Pakistan.
