Islamabad says it targeted militant hideouts after recent suicide bombings; Kabul condemns ‘crime against humanity’
Sharjah — Pakistan launched multiple precision air strikes inside Afghanistan overnight Sunday, targeting what it described as militant hideouts along the border region—an attack that Afghan authorities say killed dozens of civilians, including women and children.
The military operation struck seven sites in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, targeting the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), its associates, and an Islamic State group affiliate. Islamabad described the strikes as a response to “recent suicide bombing incidents in Pakistan,” including a devastating mosque attack in Islamabad two weeks ago that killed at least 40 people.
However, Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government condemned the strikes as a “crime against humanity,” with government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid posting on X: “Pakistani generals try to compensate for their country’s security weaknesses through such crimes.”
Children among dead
An Afghan security source told AFP that 12 children and teenagers were among 17 people killed when a house was targeted in Nangarhar’s Bihsud district. An AFP journalist at the scene witnessed residents using a bulldozer to search for victims under the rubble.
Afghanistan’s government said the strikes “martyred and wounded dozens of people, including women and children,” though precise casualty figures remain unclear.
The overnight attacks mark the most significant escalation since October’s border clashes, which killed more than 70 people on both sides and wounded hundreds. Those clashes ended with a Qatar- and Turkey-brokered ceasefire, but subsequent talks in Doha and Istanbul have failed to produce a lasting resolution.
Deteriorating relations
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul’s Taliban authorities have deteriorated sharply since the latter regained control of Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups—particularly the TTP—that launch cross-border attacks.
Sunday’s statement from Islamabad said that despite “repeated urging,” the Taliban authorities have failed to act against groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan. Saturday’s suicide bombing in northwest Pakistan, along with the earlier Islamabad mosque attack, prompted the military response, officials said.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which was the deadliest attack in the Pakistani capital since 2008.
Regional implications
The strikes threaten to further destabilise an already volatile border region and complicate already strained diplomatic relations. Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies harbouring militants, insisting it does not allow any group to use its soil against neighbouring countries.
With peace talks stalled and both sides trading accusations, Sunday’s military action raises the spectre of wider confrontation along the disputed Durand Line—a border Afghanistan has never formally recognised.
International observers now watch anxiously as two nuclear-armed neighbours edge closer to what could become a prolonged and bloody conflict.
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