Pakistani security forces said they killed at least 29 militants in ground and air operations carried out on Sunday (28) along the border with Afghanistan. In response, the Afghan Taliban accused Islamabad of causing the death and injury of dozens of civilians, including women and children, during the bombings.
According to Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, four members of the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, died in the ground actions.
Another 25 militants were killed in airstrikes against targets in the Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar, where large quantities of weapons and ammunition were also destroyed.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid condemned the operation and stated that the .
“The attacks resulted in the death and injury of dozens of civilians, including women and children. We strongly condemn this act of aggression and consider it a crime,” he wrote in a post on the X social network.
According to Tarar, the offensive was a response to a series of recent attacks attributed to militant groups. On Saturday (27), a bomb and firearms attack by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar against a base of the Sindh Rangers paramilitary force, in Karachi, killed three agents and left four others injured, according to the Pakistani Army.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan remain marked by mutual accusations about the activities of extremist groups in the border region.
Islamabad says Kabul is home to militants responsible for attacks on Pakistani territory. The Afghan Taliban deny the accusations and maintain that the insurgency is an internal problem in Pakistan.
