Pakistan conducted airstrikes on Sunday targeting militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s border regions, killing at least 28 militants, according to Pakistani government officials. The strikes hit multiple locations in the Afghan provinces of Kunar, Paktika, and Nangarhar, sources said. Pakistani authorities characterized the operation as a response to recent cross-border attacks by militant groups based in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Ministry of Information stated that the airstrikes were aimed at members of a Pakistani Taliban faction responsible for deadly bombings in Pakistan in recent months. A Pakistani security official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that the strikes took place primarily in Paktika and Kunar provinces. These operations followed an attack on a police facility in the northwestern Pakistani district of Kohat on Friday, which killed at least 24 people, a claim made by a militant group called Shura Itthehad-ul-Mujahideen.
Afghan Taliban officials condemned the strikes, reporting civilian casualties and vowing a response. The Taliban's chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid described the Pakistani air raids as aggression and announced that Afghanistan would respond appropriately. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that three civilians—a man, a woman, and a girl—were killed, with four others injured during the strikes in Kunar province. Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said that in Kunar a house was hit, killing three family members and injuring others, while in Paktika, two locations, including a shop and an empty house, were destroyed.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul and formally protested the strikes. The Taliban government has repeatedly denied harboring anti-Pakistani insurgents, disputing Islamabad’s longstanding accusations. They also assert that militancy is an internal issue within Pakistan.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan remain tense, with Islamabad citing Afghan soil as a base for militants who launch cross-border attacks. Clashes and military exchanges have intensified since February, resulting in hundreds of casualties from aerial bombardments, drone strikes, and artillery fire. Pakistani armed forces reported an ongoing confrontation on Sunday in the adjacent district of Hangu near the Afghan border that left six Pakistani soldiers and eight militants dead.
Analysts note that Pakistan faces numerous insurgencies from different militant groups with distinct ideologies but united in opposing the Pakistani state. Some groups, including the one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, have origins linked to previous alliances with Al Qaeda and Arab fighters but turned against Pakistan following military offensives around 2015.
The recent escalation marks a break in nearly three months of relative calm along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, highlighting the continued volatility of the region and the challenges in addressing cross-border militancy.