Pakistani strikes kill dozens in Afghanistan

Pakistan launched airstrikes and sent ground troops into Afghan provinces along its border, killing dozens.  At least 36 civilians, including women and children, have been killed and more than 160 others wounded, says Afghanistan's Taliban government, and has condemned it as a "cowardly act" and "a crime and atrocity".

Pakistan's information minister Attaullah Tarar said 29 militants were killed in strikes targeted at their hideouts, adding that the strikes were a response to "recent terrorist attacks against innocent people".

Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harbouring terror groups that carry out cross-border attacks, a claim the Taliban government rejects.

Kabul, in turn, has previously accused Islamabad of carrying out unprovoked attacks in which civilians were killed - though Pakistan says it only targets militants.

The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire last October following weeks of deadly clashes. As with past internationally-mediated truce deals, however, that ceasefire has since fallen apart.

The BBC has not independently confirmed the casualty figures claimed by the Pakistani and Taliban governments in the latest attacks.Afghanistan's Taliban government says the strikes hit civilian homes, while Pakistan says they were targeted at militant hideouts in Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces.

Casualties were concentrated in Mandokhail, a village in the Paktika province, Taliban officials say.

The attacks on Sunday come a day after three members of the Sindh Rangers, a Pakistani paramilitary force, were killed at their headquarters in Karachi, according to Pakistan's military. Three militants also died in the suicide attack, and Pakistani officials said they had arrested a fourth, who was an Afghan.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the TTP, claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.

Both the TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar are banned in Pakistan, and by the United Nations, because of their involvement in past attacks.

Intermittent border clashes and airstrikes in the border area have killed dozens of people in recent months, according to officials in both countries.

In February, clashes between the two countries left dozens of people dead. In March, a Pakistani strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul killed hundreds.

Earlier in June, Pakistan launched deadly air strikes that killed 26 militants. Afghanistan's Taliban government said 13 people, mostly children, were also killed in the strikes.

The strikes were conducted under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq on the night of June 28-29 after an attack on a Rangers camp in Karachi. In a post on X, Tarar said the strikes eliminated terrorists and destroyed weapons and ammunition stockpiles.

In a statement on Sunday, Tarar said that security forces continued Operation Ghazab Lil Haq after a series of terrorist attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Balochistan, and on a Sindh Rangers camp in Karachi.

Two days ago, security forces foiled a terrorist attack on a Sindh Rangers camp in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. Three Rangers personnel were martyred and four others were injured during the assault, while three terrorists were killed and another, identified as an Afghan national, was captured in an injured condition. The military attributed the attack to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and vowed to continue operations against those responsible.

Tarar's statement on Sunday stated that security forces first conducted an intelligence-based ground operation near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Bajaur district on June 28, killing four militants, including alleged high-value commander Khan Farosh alias Zabal. Several other terrorists were injured.

It added that the operation was followed by precision strikes on three terrorist targets in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar during the night of June 28-29. According to Tarar, 25 terrorists were killed in those strikes, bringing the total number of militants killed during the operation to 29. The statement also noted that large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at the targeted camps and hideouts were destroyed.

"Pakistan has always strived to maintain peace and stability in the region, but at the same time shall not compromise on the safety and security of our citizens, which remains our top priority," Tarar said. He added that Pakistan's counterterrorism campaign under the Azm-e-Istehkam strategy would continue "at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country."

Fitna al-Khawarij is the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is one of the group's breakaway factions.

Fighting ​between Pakistan and Afghanistan started in October, ⁠killing scores on both sides, with Afghans taking the brunt. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring ⁠militants ​who launch attacks in Pakistan, ​although Kabul denies this, calling the militancy Islamabad's domestic problem.

Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched around the end of February following renewed clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, after Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation by Pakistan.

The clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani air strikes targeting terrorist positions. The two sides had agreed to a week-long ceasefire on the eve of Eidul Fitr on March 18 following requests from Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Pakistan in April put forth three core demands to the Afghan Taliban during peace talks in Urumqi, China, including Kabul formally declaring the TTP a terrorist organisation, dismantling its infrastructure, and providing verifiable proof of the action. The demands form the basis of Pakistan's negotiating position, which sources say has hardened amid persistent security concerns.

In the most recent development, Pakistan carried out “precision strikes” along the border targeting terrorist hideouts, killing 26 Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists in response to recent terrorist attacks in the country.


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