On Tuesday evening, Pakistan’s army launched airstrikes in neighboring Afghanistan. Based on comments by security authorities, it attacked hiding places of the Pakistan Taliban, also known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, militant faction in the region of Paktika.
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Inter-Services Public Relations, the country’s army press outlet, did not release formal feedback. However, anonymous officials verified that the strikes happened in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Barmal area in Afghanistan, which is close to Pakistani Southern Waziristan tribal territory.
The strikes were also acknowledged by the Taliban-led provisional Afghan administration. It maintained that the objective had been non-military communities. According to the Taliban spokesman, air attacks murdered at least 46 individuals, mainly women and kids.
Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry representative, Enayatullah Khowarazami, posted on X, saying, “The Pakistani government ought to realize that such arbitrary steps are not an answer to any issue.” He clarified in the post that the Islamic Emirate views the security of its land as a fundamental right and would not tolerate this despicable behavior. The Taliban regime renamed the country the “Islamic Emirate” after seizing power in August 2021.
It was the second occasion during the current year that the air attacks were carried out. They took place in the capital barely hours after Pakistani special envoy for Afghanistan talked with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Afghan minister of foreign affairs.
Weekly Attacks
A day before the attack, Sadiq met with Sirajuddin Haqqani, the temporary interior minister of Afghanistan, as part of his tour to Kabul. As the two neighbors’ relationship deteriorated, the meeting was hoped to provide a resolution. Analysts anticipate that after Tuesday night’s assaults, ties will certainly deteriorate much worse.
Islamabad has charged the Afghan government on several occasions with providing sanctuary to terrorist organizations, particularly the TTP, which it says conducts assaults against Pakistani military troops.
TTP militants took credit for the deaths of at least 16 Pakistani servicemen in South Waziristan few days ago. It was one of the worst assaults on security forces in the recent past.
The Taliban deny enabling cross-border assaults to take place on their territory or giving sanctuary to armed organizations. However, Islamabad claims that the TTP operates from safe havens in Afghanistan.
The country stated hundreds of Pakistan’s Taliban militants had taken refuge in Afghanistan in a report to the UNSC. Statistics shows an increase in assaults and fatalities, especially in Pakistan’s bordering Afghan provinces of southern Balochistan and agitated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest.
A total of 924 people have been killed in over 1500 hostile attacks in the since January 2024, based on the data released by Pakistani Home Ministry. A total of 570 security officers and 351 citizens were among those killed.
Over 856 assaults have been reported so far in 2024, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS). The 645 instances reported in 2023 are surpassed by the POCSS statistic, which is an investigative organization located in Pakistan’s capital.
