Pakistan carries out deadly cross-border airstrikes inside Afghanistan
The two neighbors have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021. Relations have deteriorated sharply amid recurrent border fire and closures since October, even as envoys sought to cool...
Pakistan said it launched multiple overnight airstrikes against militants inside eastern Afghanistan, prompting condemnation from Kabul after Afghan authorities reported children among the dead and wounded. The cross-border operation was the most extensive since October, when border clashes left more than 70 people dead on both sides and hundreds injured.
Islamabad said its military hit seven sites along the frontier targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups “in the aftermath of recent suicide bombing incidents in Pakistan.” The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the strikes targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Islamic State group.
- Advertisement -
Pakistan linked the action to a wave of attacks, including a suicide blast at a Shia mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other recent bombings in the northwest, including one on Saturday. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack on Islamabad since 2008.
Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denounced the operation. “Pakistani generals try to compensate for their country’s security weaknesses through such crimes,” he posted on X.
In eastern Nangarhar province, an AFP journalist in Bihsud district saw residents using a bulldozer to search for victims under the rubble following the strikes. An Afghan security source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said 17 people were killed when a house was targeted in Bihsud, including 12 children and teenagers.
The two neighbors have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021. Relations have deteriorated sharply amid recurrent border fire and closures since October, even as envoys sought to cool tensions.
The border violence last fall ended with a cease-fire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but several subsequent rounds of talks in Doha and Istanbul have not produced a lasting deal.
Security issues are at the heart of the impasse. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Kabul of harboring militant groups — particularly the Pakistani Taliban — that use Afghan territory to launch attacks on its soil. Islamabad said that despite repeated urging, the Taliban authorities failed to act against those groups, and that the latest strikes were carried out in response to recent suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The Afghan government denies the allegations.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
