Pakistani airstrikes targeted multiple suspected hideouts of Pakistani Taliban inside Afghanistan early Monday, following a suicide bombing and coordinated attacks by insurgents that killed seven soldiers in the northwest region. The strikes, carried out in Khost and Paktika provinces bordering Pakistan, have escalated tensions between the neighboring countries.
The airstrikes were confirmed by two Pakistani security and intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The exact details of the operation remain undisclosed, including whether Pakistani jets entered deep into Afghan territory. The Pakistani Taliban acknowledged the strikes in a statement.
Chief Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the airstrikes, stating that they resulted in the deaths of three women and three children in Barmal district, Paktika, and two women in Khost province.
The airstrikes came in response to a recent suicide bombing targeting a military post in northwest Pakistan, which claimed the lives of seven soldiers. Pakistani forces retaliated by eliminating six militants in a shootout in North Waziristan on Saturday.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari attended the soldiers' funerals and vowed to avenge their deaths, emphasizing that their sacrifice would not be forgotten. The attack on the military post was claimed by a new militant group, Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad, suspected to have ties to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Security expert Syed Muhammad Ali highlighted that the airstrikes were a response to the recent TTP attacks, particularly the one in Mir Ali that resulted in the deaths of an army lieutenant colonel and captain. He suggested that Pakistan's patience with the Afghan interim government's tolerance of terrorist activities against Pakistan had reached its limit.
The Pakistani Taliban, although distinct from the Afghanistan Taliban, maintain close ties with the latter. The TTP has intensified attacks within Pakistan, exploiting the power vacuum created by the U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Despite assurances from the Afghan Taliban government, the TTP continues to launch attacks from Afghan soil, straining relations between the two countries.
