Daijiworld Media Network - Islamabad
Islamabad, Jun 29: Pakistan security forces on Sunday carried out a major ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, followed by what officials described as "calibrated strikes" on militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters.
Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, in a post on X, said the operation was launched in response to multiple militant attacks across the country. Afghanistan has not issued any immediate response to the action.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in militant attacks targeting police and security forces in recent years. Authorities have blamed the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its allied militant groups for most of the attacks.
The latest operation comes a day after militants armed with guns and explosives attacked the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi, killing three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested another militant in an injured condition. The Pakistan military identified the arrested attacker as an Afghan national.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack in a statement issued on Saturday night.
Tarar said Sunday's operation targeted hideouts and safe havens of the Pakistani Taliban along the Afghan border. The TTP is a separate organisation from the Afghan Taliban, though both groups share an alliance.
The escalation is expected to further strain relations between Islamabad and Kabul, which have already been tense over allegations of cross-border militancy.
The latest strikes came less than three weeks after Pakistan's military carried out airstrikes on what it described as militant positions inside Afghanistan. The action ended a month-long period of relative calm following what Islamabad had termed an "open war" between the two neighbouring countries.
Hundreds of people have been killed in cross-border clashes since February after Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes following Pakistani air attacks inside Afghan territory.
Several rounds of internationally mediated peace talks have failed to establish a lasting ceasefire between the two countries. China had also hosted talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in April, after which Beijing said both sides had agreed to avoid further escalation and explore a peaceful solution.
Pakistan has carried out multiple strikes along the border and inside Afghanistan since last year, targeting alleged TTP and militant hideouts. Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban government of providing shelter to militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Kabul has repeatedly denied.