Pakistan has carried out airstrikes on what it described as militant hideouts inside Afghanistan, saying it was a response to cross-border attacks that have killed members of its security forces and civilians.
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said the strikes hit a religious school and several residential homes, killing and wounding dozens of civilians.
The Taliban-run defence ministry described the action as a “blatant violation of national sovereignty” and said an “appropriate and measured response will be taken at a suitable time”.
They added that they considered the act a “a clear breach of international law, the principles of good neighbourliness, and Islamic values”.
Pakistan said it had targeted hideouts belonging to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an outlawed militant network responsible for a surge in attacks in Pakistan’s north-west. The military described the operation as “intelligence-based” and said it was aimed at camps used to plan and launch assaults across the border.
The strikes followed a suicide vehicle bombing in Bajaur district on Tuesday that killed 11 Pakistani security personnel and a child, an attack claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A statement from Pakistan's ministry of information and broadcasting said the country had “conclusive evidence” that militants behind the recent attacks were operating under the direction of “Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers”.
It said the operation targeted seven militant camps and that the Taliban regime “failed to undertake any substantive action” despite Pakistan’s urging.
Pakistan “has always strived to maintain peace and stability in the region”, it added, but said the safety and security of its citizens was its priority.
Issuing a strong condemnation of the strikes, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid wrote in a post on X: “Pakistani special military circles have once again trespassed into Afghan territory.”
He said dozens of “civilian compatriots” were injured and killed, including women and children, in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
“Pakistani generals compensate for their country's security weaknesses through such crimes,” he wrote.
Since the Taliban forcibly seized control of Kabul in August 2021, Pakistan has repeatedly accused it of failing to curb TTP fighters who use Afghan territory as a base to organise and launch attacks. Kabul has consistently denied allowing any group to use its soil to threaten other countries.
Hours before the strikes, a suicide bomber targeted a security convoy in the nearby Bannu district in Pakistan's northwest, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.
Pakistan's military warned after Saturday’s attack that it would not “exercise any restraint” and operations against those responsible would continue “irrespective of their location”.
Relations between the two neighbours have been strained since October, when clashes along the border left dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants dead. The escalation came after explosions in Kabul that Afghan officials attributed to Pakistan.
Although a ceasefire brokered by Qatar has largely held, negotiations held in Istanbul in November 2025 failed to produce a formal settlement, leaving ties fragile and tensions unresolved.
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