Islamabad, Oct 1: Pakistan on Thursday said it carried out targeted airstrikes using aerial and drone capabilities in Afghanistan, killing at least 22 terrorists and destroying their hideouts at two places as part of a campaign to eliminate militants’ hideouts across the border.
In a post on X, the Ministry of Information provided the details of air attacks against terrorists across the border and also attached a video clip of strikes.
“Through precise aerial and drone strikes, as reflected in the attached clip, terrorist hideouts and camps” belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban and Baloch militant groups at two locations in areas under the Afghan Taliban’s control were comprehensively destroyed, the ministry said.
It added that large quantities of weapons and ammunition stockpiled at the terrorist hideouts and camps were also destroyed through calibrated and precisely targeted aerial strikes.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government, meanwhile, said that Pakistani strikes killed nine Afghan civilians, including women and children, and injured 11 others.
This comes amid a sharp escalation in already strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the two sides trading allegations over militant sanctuaries, cross-border attacks, airstrikes and border incursions.
Pakistan’s information ministry, earlier in a statement, said the country’s security forces conducted “well-planned and calibrated aerial strikes” against the hideouts and safe havens of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), killing multiple terrorists.
It said that “selective targeting” of terrorist camps and hideouts at two locations in Afghanistan was carried out based on credible intelligence with “precision and accuracy”.
“Targets were destroyed with precision and initial reports suggest the killing of 22 terrorists,” it said.
The ministry said Pakistan has always strived for the maintenance of peace and stability in the region. However, “the safety and security of our citizens remains our foremost priority”.
It alleged that Afghanistan continues to remain a hub of terrorism and the threat to Pakistan emanates from there.
“In this context, our action precisely targeted the terrorist hubs. Maximum precautions were taken, and it was ensured that no collateral damage occur,” it said.
The statement also said that Pakistan’s counter terrorism campaign, Ghazab lil Haq, will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.
Meanwhile, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a social media post on Thursday, said nine Afghan civilians, including women and children, were killed in the strikes, 11 others injured, and three homes destroyed.
He said the strikes were conducted in Chugam, Shultan district of Kunar province, and Safar, Garmser district of Helmand province.
“We condemn this act as an aggression and crime in violation of all accepted principles,” he said.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban administration in Kabul of allowing the TTP and allied militant groups to use Afghan territory to plan and carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The Afghan Taliban has rejected Pakistan’s allegations that it allows its territory to be used for attacks against neighbouring countries. (PTI)
