Pakistan's security forces have carried out a ground operation and air strikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killing 29 militants, officials said on Sunday. The operation was launched in response to multiple attacks by armed groups across the country.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced on social media that three targets in the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed in precision strikes. There was no immediate response from Afghanistan.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks targeting police and security forces in recent years, with authorities blaming the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and allied groups for most of the violence. The operation comes a day after fighters attacked the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi, killing three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested another, identified as an Afghan national.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack. Tarar said the latest operation targeted hideouts and safe havens of the Pakistani Taliban. Although the Pakistani Taliban are a separate group from the Afghan Taliban, they are allies. The Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Sunday's cross-border strikes and ground operation occurred less than three weeks after Pakistan's military launched air strikes on alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan. They ended about a month of relative calm following what Islamabad described as an 'open war' between the neighboring countries, despite international efforts to broker peace.
The escalation follows months of tit-for-tat military action. Hundreds have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistani air strikes. Multiple rounds of internationally mediated peace talks have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire. China hosted both sides in April, and later said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed not to escalate their conflict.
Since last year, Pakistan has carried out multiple strikes along the border and inside Afghanistan, targeting alleged hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban and other armed groups. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of harboring fighters who carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban. Kabul denies the accusations.
Source: www.aljazeera.com