Pakistan air strikes in Afghanistan kill dozens, injure many

Dozens of people were killed and several others injured after Pakistani air strikes hit border areas of Afghanistan, according to media reports, while Pakistan said the operations targeted militant hideouts and killed at least 29 militants in an intelligence-based operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Afghanistan’s Taliban government condemned the strikes, describing them as a “cowardly act” and an alleged violation of its territory. Taliban officials said the attacks hit civilian areas, with casualties reported mainly from Mandikhel village in Paktika province. They claimed that at least 100 people were killed or injured in the strikes.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were carried out against militant positions in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces. He said the action was taken in response to recent attacks targeting civilians in Pakistan.The latest escalation comes amid long-running tensions between the two neighbours over security concerns along their shared border. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban government in Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory and carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul has rejected these allegations.Afghanistan, in turn, has accused Pakistan of conducting unprovoked strikes that have caused civilian casualties, while Islamabad maintains that its operations are aimed only at militant targets.
The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire in October following weeks of deadly clashes, but the truce has since weakened, with intermittent border clashes and air strikes continuing in recent months.The latest strikes followed a suicide attack in Karachi in which three personnel of Pakistan’s paramilitary Sindh Rangers were killed, along with three attackers. Pakistani officials said a fourth suspect, an Afghan national, was arrested. The banned militant group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction linked to the TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Both the TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar are banned in Pakistan and designated by the United Nations due to their involvement in previous militant attacks.The Pakistan-Afghanistan border region has witnessed repeated violence in recent months. Earlier this year, clashes between the two sides reportedly killed dozens of people. In June, Pakistan carried out air strikes that Islamabad said targeted militants, while Afghan authorities said civilians, including children, were among those killed.The casualty figures from the latest strikes could not be independently verified, according to agency reports.