On February 23, Pakistan’s security forces carried out airstrikes and ground operations along the border with Afghanistan, killing 29 militants, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
On social media, Tarar said the operation was in retaliation for a series of attacks by armed groups across the country. Targets in three eastern Afghan provinces — Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar — were destroyed in precision strikes.
The incident came a day after gunmen used firearms and explosives to attack the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in the port city of Karachi, killing three soldiers. Security forces neutralized three attackers and captured another suspect alive, whom the army confirmed was a wounded Afghan citizen.
The group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack in a statement late on February 22.
Tarar stressed that the latest operation targeted hideouts and shelters of the Pakistani Taliban, a distinct armed group from the Afghan Taliban, though they are allies. The Afghan Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
The cross-border airstrikes and ground operation on February 23 came less than three weeks after Pakistani forces attacked militant hideouts in Afghanistan, ending about a month of relative calm since Islamabad described a state of “open war” between the two neighbors, despite international mediation efforts.
Tensions escalated after months of back-and-forth military clashes. Hundreds have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan conducted airstrikes inside its territory.
Multiple rounds of internationally mediated peace talks have failed to produce a lasting ceasefire. China also mediated between the two sides in April, and Beijing later said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed not to escalate the conflict and to seek a resolution.
Since last year, Pakistan has carried out numerous strikes along the border and inside Afghanistan, targeting alleged hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban and other armed groups. Islamabad accuses the Taliban administration in Kabul of harboring militants responsible for deadly attacks in Pakistan, particularly the Pakistani Taliban. Kabul denies these allegations.
