Edited by Moohita Kaur Garg

Advertisment

 

Amid the tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Islamabad on Tuesday (Dec 24) launched overnight airstrikes, targeting suspected Taliban hideouts.

The strike successfully dismantled a training facility and killed some insurgents, said Pakistan security officials, as per a PTI report.

Advertisment

At least six explosions have been reported at the Pakistan Taliban camp, sources told WION's Pakistan bureau chief Anas Mallick.

Four big TTP camps have been destroyed, sources said, adding Taliban commanders Sher Zaman alias Mukhlis Yar, Akhtar Muhammad alias Khalil, Azhar alias Hamza, Shoaib Cheema were killed. The office of Umar Media has also been destroyed.

The total death toll is yet to be officially confirmed, but sources said it stands somewhere between 25 and 30. 

Advertisment

What areas were targeted?

Citing anonymous security sources, the PTI news agency reported that Taliban bases near the border, in Afghanistan's Barmal district of Paktika Province, were targeted. However, it is not clear if the jets went deep inside Afghanistan or how exactly they were launched.

Also read | Pakistan military courts convict 25 Imran Khan supporters over 2023 unrest

Pakistan is yet to launch an official statement on the said airstrikes.

However, Afghanistan, in a statement, has strongly condemned the strikes and has labelled them a "cowardly act".

Afghanistan slams Pakistan

In a statement, the Afghan Defence Ministry said, "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers this a brutal act against all international principles and blatant aggression and strongly condemns it".

The nation alleged that the bombing was targeted at civilians, including women and children. It also claimed that all of those killed in Pakistan's strikes were refugees from the Waziristan region.

Also read | Pakistan government forms negotiation committee to hold talks with Imran Khan's PTI party

It also said that "The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered but considers the defence of its territory to be its inalienable right".

Locals, according to reports, have said that at least eight people, including women and children, were killed in the airstrike.

Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions 

Islamabad often claims that the Pakistan Taliban uses the neighbouring nation's soil to launch attacks on Pakistan. However, Kabul vehemently denies the charge.

These are the second such strikes since March 2024. Previously, Pakistan reported that it had carried out an intelligence-based attack in the border areas inside Afghanistan.

The new strikes came just hours after Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan, travelled to Kabul. There, he met with Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan's acting interior minister and "held wide-ranging discussions."

"Agreed to work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as for peace and progress in the region," he added in a post on X.

He also conveyed his condolences over the December 11 killing of his uncle Khalil Haqqani. 

(With inputs taken from agencies)