Pakistan claims 28 militants killed in strikes on Afghanistan

Pakistan on Monday confirmed carrying out airstrikes in the eastern parts of Afghanistan, claiming it targeted militant camps and hideouts and killed 28 militants, hours after Taliban authorities said the strikes in Kunar and Paktika killed three civilians.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the strikes followed an intelligence-based ground operation Sunday in the Kohat and Hangu districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and came after a series of recent deadly attacks in the province.

The ministry said Pakistani security forces killed nine militants during the ground operation and wounded several others.

It said forces subsequently carried out what it described as “selective targeting” of militant camps and hideouts in the border region with Afghanistan.

Pakistan said three targets were destroyed, including a suicide bomber training center, killing 28 militants as well as “multiple suicide bombers.” It also said weapons and ammunition stored at the locations were destroyed.

Three local residents in Kunar told Amu TV that three members of a family, including Noor Ahmad, his wife and his daughter, have been killed in the Pakistani airstrike that struck their house and four others have been wounded.

“The strikes happened at around 3am on Monday,” a resident of Noorgul district in Kunar, Hedayatullah, told Amu TV.

Pakistan did not specify in its statement whether the strikes it described were those reported earlier Monday in Kunar and Paktika.

Taliban spokesman, however, in a statement said Pakistani fighter jets struck Nurgal district in Kunar and Barmal district in Paktika early Monday.

He said three civilians, including a woman, were killed and four others, including two women, were wounded in Kunar. He said a house and a shop were also struck in Barmal.

Mujahid condemned the attacks as “aggression and a continuation of crimes” and said the Taliban would give an “appropriate response.”

Pakistan offered a sharply different account of its operations, saying its targets were militant facilities and that precautions had been taken to prevent civilian casualties.

“Maximum precautions were taken and it was ensured that no collateral damage occurs,” the Information Ministry said.

Pakistan said the operations targeted what it calls Fitna al-Khawarij, a term Pakistani authorities use for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, and affiliated militants.

The ministry also accused Afghanistan of continuing to serve as a base for militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan.

“It is a matter of grave concern that Afghanistan continues to remain a hub of terrorism,” the ministry said, adding that the threat to Pakistan “emanates from Afghanistan.”

The Taliban have repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s allegations that they harbor TTP militants and maintain that they do not allow the country’s territory to be used against other countries.

Strikes follow deadly Kohat attack

Pakistan’s statement comes three days after a major attack on a police compound in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A suicide car bomber struck the compound during Friday prayers before gunmen stormed the facility. At least 31 people were killed, according to AFP figures.

Pakistan’s latest statement referred broadly to “recent multiple terrorist incidents” against people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but did not explicitly say Monday’s airstrikes were retaliation for the Kohat attack.

The latest strikes mark a renewed use of Pakistani air power along the Afghanistan border after a nearly three-month pause in publicly reported Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.

The previous confirmed strikes occurred on June 28, when Pakistani aircraft hit Kunar, Paktika and Paktia provinces. UNAMA said those strikes killed 28 civilians and wounded 189, according to the U.N. secretary-general’s latest report on Afghanistan. Pakistan said at the time that it had targeted militant hideouts and infrastructure.

The United Nations documented 399 civilian casualties — 57 killed and 342 wounded — from hostilities between Pakistan and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan from April through June.

Relations deteriorate over TTP

Monday’s strikes are the latest episode in a prolonged deterioration in relations between Pakistan and the Taliban, centered largely on Islamabad’s accusations that TTP militants operate from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.

The dispute has repeatedly escalated into direct military confrontation.

Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan in October 2025, prompting Taliban forces to attack Pakistani military positions along the border. Days of fighting followed before Qatar and Turkey mediated a ceasefire.

Pakistani strikes and cross-border fighting resumed several times in 2026.

Despite subsequent diplomatic efforts, including mediation by Turkey and Qatar, the two sides have not resolved their dispute over militant activity.