Pakistan’s military conducted strikes inside Afghanistan early Sunday, killing at least 70 militants it alleges were responsible for recent attacks on Pakistani soil, according to Pakistani officials. The strikes targeted areas in the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika, prompting a swift condemnation from the Afghan government, which called the attacks a violation of its sovereignty.
Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, told Geo News that the strikes resulted in the deaths of at least 70 militants. Later, state-run media reported the number of casualties had risen to 80. The Pakistani military stated the operations were “intelligence-based, selective operations” against seven camps belonging to the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and its affiliates, including a group linked to the Islamic State, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s post on X.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement asserting that “various civilian areas” were struck, including a religious madrassa and civilian homes. Zabihullah Mujahid, an Afghan government spokesperson, stated on X that the attacks “killed and wounded dozens, including women and children.” Mawlawi Fazl Rahman Fayyaz, the provincial director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in Nangarhar province, reported 18 deaths and multiple injuries. Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul and delivered a formal protest note, warning that protecting its territory was a “Sharia responsibility” and that Pakistan would be held accountable for the consequences.
Villagers in Nangarhar were seen clearing debris following the airstrikes, while preparations for funerals were underway. Habib Ullah, a local tribal elder, claimed those killed were not militants. “They were poor people who suffered greatly. Those killed were neither Taliban, nor military personnel, nor members of the former government. They lived simple village lives,” he told the Associated Press.
The strikes occurred hours after a suicide bomber targeted a security convoy in Bannu, Pakistan, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel. The Pakistani military warned it would not “exercise any restraint” in pursuing those responsible. Last week, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security post in Bajaur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Pakistani authorities identified the attacker as an Afghan national.
Pakistan alleges that recent attacks, including a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad earlier this month that killed 31 worshippers, were orchestrated by militants operating from Afghanistan, acting on the direction of “Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.” Islamabad has repeatedly called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to prevent militant groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks within Pakistan, claiming these appeals have gone unanswered. Tarar urged the international community to pressure the Taliban authorities to uphold commitments made under the Doha agreement, which stipulated preventing Afghan soil from being used against other countries.
Security analyst Abdullah Khan noted that the Pakistani strikes suggest that mediation efforts led by Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have failed to de-escalate tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Qatari-mediated ceasefire, established after deadly border clashes in October, has largely held, but several rounds of talks in Istanbul in November did not result in a formal agreement, leaving relations strained.