Casualties Reported After Pakistan Strikes ‘Militant Targets’ in Afghanistan

Pakistan carried out pre-dawn strikes along its border with Afghanistan on Sunday, targeting what it described as militant hideouts linked to recent attacks inside Pakistan. Afghan officials, however, reported civilian casualties and condemned the operation as a violation of national sovereignty.

According to Islamabad, the military conducted “intelligence-based, selective operations” against seven camps belonging to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, along with an affiliate of Islamic State (Daesh).

Afghan Officials Report Civilian Deaths

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said the strikes hit “various civilian areas” in eastern provinces, including Nangarhar and Paktika. Officials claimed a religious madrassa and residential homes were among the sites impacted.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stated that dozens were killed or wounded, including women and children. The Afghan Red Crescent Society’s provincial director in Nangarhar, Mawlawi Fazl Rahman Fayyaz, reported that at least 18 people were killed and several others injured.

Kabul described the strikes as a breach of Afghan airspace and sovereignty.

Pakistan Defends Operation

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the action was aimed at militant camps responsible for attacks within Pakistan. He emphasized that while Islamabad seeks regional stability, the protection of Pakistani citizens remains a top priority.

Pakistan has faced a surge in violence attributed largely to the TTP and Baloch separatist groups. The TTP, though separate from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, is considered closely aligned with them. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the group of operating from Afghan territory — a claim denied by both the TTP and Kabul authorities.

Escalating Cross-Border Tensions

The strikes followed a suicide bombing in Bannu district in northwestern Pakistan that killed two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel. Days earlier, another suicide attack in Bajaur district claimed the lives of 11 soldiers and a child. Pakistani officials alleged the attacker in that incident was an Afghan national.

Tarar said Pakistan possessed “conclusive evidence” that recent attacks — including a bombing targeting a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that killed 31 worshippers — were orchestrated by militants acting under Afghanistan-based leadership.

He urged the international community to press Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to uphold commitments under the Doha Agreement, which stipulates that Afghan territory should not be used to launch attacks against other nations.

Fragile Cease-Fire

A Qatari-mediated cease-fire between Islamabad and Kabul was established after deadly border clashes in October that killed dozens. While the truce has largely held, diplomatic talks in Istanbul in November failed to secure a formal long-term agreement.

Relations between the two neighbors remain strained, with recurring accusations and retaliatory measures threatening to destabilize the already volatile border region.

As both sides trade allegations, the latest strikes underscore the fragile security landscape along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier — and the risk of further escalation in the absence of sustained diplomatic progress.