Pakistan strikes militant hideouts along Afghan border
Pakistan says it has carried out attacks along the border with Afghanistan and targeted hideouts of Pakistani militants it blames for recent attacks inside the country.
Islamabad did not say specifically in which areas the attacks were carried out or provide any other details. There was no immediate comment from Kabul and reports on social media suggested the attacks were carried out in Afghanistan.
In a statement before dawn on Sunday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote that in He said that an organization affiliated with ISIS was also targeted in the border region.
In October, Pakistan also launched strikes deep into Afghanistan to target militant hideouts.
Tarar said Pakistan “always strives to maintain peace and stability in the region” but added that the safety and security of Pakistani citizens remains the top priority.
The latest development comes just days after a suicide bomber, backed by gunmen, crashed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the wall of a security post in the Bajaur district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan.
The explosion caused part of the facility to collapse, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Authorities later announced that the attacker was an Afghan citizen.
Hours before the latest border attacks, another suicide bomber targeted a security convoy in the northwestern Bannu district, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.
After Saturday’s violence, the Pakistani military said it “will not impose any restrictions” and that operations against those responsible will continue “regardless of their location”, pointing to rising tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.
Tarar said Pakistan had “conclusive evidence” that recent attacks, including a suicide bomb that targeted a Shiite mosque in Islamabad and killed 31 worshipers earlier this month, were carried out by militants acting “under the orders of leaders and handlers based in Afghanistan.”
He said Pakistan had repeatedly called on Taliban rulers in Afghanistan to take verifiable steps to prevent militant groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, but claimed no concrete action had been taken.
He said Pakistan called on the international community to pressure the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to fulfill their commitments under the Doha agreement not to allow their territory to be used against other countries.
