Pakistan launched airstrikes and deployed ground forces in border regions of Afghanistan on Sunday, with Taliban authorities claiming that dozens of people were killed and more than 100 were killed or injured in the cross-border operation.
The Taliban government strongly condemned the strikes, describing them as a “cowardly act” and calling the operation a “crime and atrocity.”
Pakistan, however, said the operation targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that 29 militants were killed during the strikes, which he said were carried out in response to recent terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
According to Taliban officials, the strikes also hit civilian homes, with the highest number of casualties reported from Mandikhel village in Paktika province. The casualty figures released by both sides could not be independently verified.
The military action comes a day after a suicide attack on the headquarters of Pakistan’s Sindh Rangers in Karachi killed three security personnel. Pakistani authorities said three militants were also killed in the attack, while another suspect, identified as an Afghan national, was arrested.
The banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government of sheltering militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation Kabul has consistently denied. In turn, Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of carrying out cross-border strikes that have resulted in civilian casualties.
Although both countries agreed to a ceasefire in October last year following weeks of deadly clashes, tensions have continued to escalate with repeated border skirmishes and military operations.
Earlier this year, cross-border violence claimed dozens of lives, while Pakistan’s previous airstrikes in Afghanistan also drew sharp criticism from the Taliban government over alleged civilian casualties.
The latest escalation has once again heightened tensions between the two neighbouring countries amid growing security concerns along their shared border.
(Agencies)
