Pakistan announced that following airstrikes on its border areas with Afghanistan, it has killed 28 militants. According to a security official, these strikes targeted two provinces in Afghanistan.
Tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban of Afghanistan
The Pakistani airstrikes on Monday occurred while Taliban officials in Afghanistan claimed that three civilians, including a man, a woman, and a girl, were killed in these attacks. Additionally, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed the deaths of these three civilians. These strikes took place after nearly three months of relative calm in the region.
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Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government, stated that Afghanistan will respond appropriately to this "aggression." A Pakistani official, who requested anonymity, said that these attacks were carried out in the Paktika and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Pakistani Ministry of Information announced the death toll, but the military of the country did not respond quickly to this matter.
Consequences and ongoing tensions
Relations between the two countries, which were allies in the past, have been overshadowed by tensions for years. Islamabad is accused of harboring militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Tensions escalated since last February, and in the first half of this year, hundreds have died in airstrikes, drone attacks, and artillery fire.
The Taliban government of Afghanistan has denied any harboring of anti-Pakistani insurgents and claims that the problem of terrorism pertains to Pakistan. The Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it summoned the Pakistani representative in Kabul and delivered a note of protest to him.
On Friday, police facilities in northwestern Pakistan were attacked by Islamic militants, resulting in at least 24 deaths. Previous attacks by militants in Pakistan have often led to retaliatory responses.
In a separate incident on Sunday, a firefight in the Hangu area near the Afghan border resulted in the deaths of six Pakistani soldiers and eight militants. According to Pakistani officials, at least one house in Kunar province was targeted in the airstrikes on Monday, resulting in the deaths of three family members and injuries to four others.
The increase in insecurity in Pakistan is evident due to the activities of various groups, each with different support bases and ideologies. The Shura of the United Mujahideen, accused of attacking police facilities in Kohat, is led by warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who previously hosted Al-Qaeda fighters in the border region.
Despite public attention in Pakistan being more focused on the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pakistan's retaliatory airstrikes on TTP safe havens and Hafiz Gul Bahadur's hideouts in Afghanistan began in late last year. Afghanistan also conducted drone attacks towards Pakistan in July, which Islamabad claimed its forces intercepted and shot down.
The worst incident occurred in March, when over 400 people died in a Pakistani airstrike in Kabul. The Taliban of Afghanistan claimed that the attack targeted a drug rehabilitation center, while Islamabad rejected this claim, stating that the targeting was specifically against military facilities and terrorist support infrastructure.
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