Pakistani military conducts airstrikes on militant hideouts in eastern Afghanistan

The Pakistani military has conducted a series of airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, targeting hideouts of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group.

Media outlets quoting security sources said the strikes were conducted in Paktika province late on Tuesday night.

The interim Afghan government, ruled by the Taliban in Afghanistan, stated that several refugees, including women and children, were killed or injured.

“The Pakistani side should understand that such arbitrary measures are not a solution to any problem,” Enayatullah Khowarazami, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry, wrote on X.

“The Islamic Emirate (Afghanistan) will not leave this cowardly act unanswered and considers the defense of its territory an inalienable right.”

The first cross-border strike inside Afghanistan since March came after a spate of attacks by the Pakistani Taliban.

The TTP militants claimed responsibility for killing at least 16 Pakistani soldiers last week in South Waziristan in one of the deadliest recent attacks on security personnel.

The strikes came just hours after Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq met the interim Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul.

Sadiq’s visit to Kabul took place amid deteriorating relations between the two neighbors.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan government of harboring the TTP.

While the Afghan Taliban deny providing refuge to militant groups or allowing their territory to be used for cross-border attacks, Pakistan says the TTP conducts its operations from Afghan sanctuaries.

Pakistan maintains that it has repeatedly shared evidence with the Afghan Taliban regarding the TTP operations but claims these concerns have not been adequately addressed.

During a United Nations Security Council briefing last week, Pakistan said thousands of TTP fighters have sought shelter in Afghanistan.

“The TTP, with 6,000 fighters, is the largest listed terrorist organisation operating in Afghanistan. With safe havens close to our border, it poses a direct and daily threat to Pakistan’s security,” Pakistani diplomat Usman Iqbal Jadoon said at the UN briefing.

Data indicates a rise in attacks and fatalities, particularly in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and southwestern province of Balochistan, both of which border Afghanistan. 

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The outlawed TTP has a strong presence in North Waziristan and elsewhere in areas close to the Afghan border. .

Pakistan has reported more than 856 attacks so far in 2024, surpassing the 645 incidents recorded in 2023.

According to Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, more than 1,500 violent incidents in the first 10 months of this year have resulted in at least 924 deaths. Among the casualties were at least 570 law enforcement personnel and 351 civilians.

The TTP has a strong presence in North Waziristan and elsewhere in the region. It is allied with the Afghan Taliban.

The 2021 Afghan Taliban takeover has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.

Over the past years, the TTP militants have been involved in multiple terrorist attacks, including targeted bombings and killing of members of religious communities and security officials nationwide.

On December 16, 2014, the group attacked Peshawar’s Army School, where more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed. It was one of the deadliest massacres in Pakistan’s history.

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