Pakistan Launches Airstrikes In Afghanistan In Retaliation For Deadly Suicide Attacks
Pakistan’s military conducted targeted airstrikes inside Afghanistan, hitting militant camps and hideouts linked to a recent wave of suicide bombings that have shaken the country, including a devastating attack on a Shia mosque in the capital.
According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the operations—described as intelligence-based and selective—struck seven sites belonging to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates, as well as an affiliate of the Islamic State group in the border region. The ministry stated that conclusive evidence showed the recent assaults in Islamabad and the northwestern districts of Bajaur and Bannu were carried out by fighters acting on instructions from their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.
The strikes followed a series of violent incidents. On February 6, a suicide bomber detonated explosives during noon prayers at the Khadija Tul Kubra mosque in Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area, killing at least 31 worshippers and injuring 170 others. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing, which marked the second such attack in Islamabad in three months and raised alarms about resurgent terrorism in Pakistan’s urban centers.
More recently, a suicide bomber, identified by authorities as an Afghan national and supported by gunmen, rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security post in Bajaur, killing 11 soldiers and a child. In a separate incident in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a suicide attack on a security convoy claimed the lives of two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.
Pakistan has repeatedly pressed the Taliban administration in Kabul to crack down on armed groups using Afghan soil to launch cross-border attacks, but the ministry noted that no substantive action has been taken. It emphasized that Pakistan prioritizes the safety of its citizens and urged the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for commitments under the 2020 Doha agreement with the United States, which prohibits the use of Afghan territory for attacks against other nations.
Afghan sources reported that the Pakistani strikes hit the border provinces of Paktika and Nangarhar, including a drone strike on a religious school in Paktika. There was no immediate response from Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
The airstrikes come amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and Kabul, exacerbated by ongoing accusations of harboring militants and a fragile ceasefire along their shared border. Pakistan has attributed the surge in violence in recent years largely to the TTP and outlawed Baloch separatist groups.