Pakistan Launches Airstrikes in Afghanistan After Deadly Kohat Militant Attack
Pakistan carried out overnight airstrikes in Afghanistan’s northeastern provinces of Kunar and Paktika, targeting what it described as militant and suicide bomber training facilities. The operation came just days after a deadly assault on a police headquarters in Kohat, near the Afghan border, that killed at least 31 people.
According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the strikes were conducted with “precision and accuracy” and destroyed three terrorist targets, including a suicide bomber training center. The ministry claimed that 28 militants were killed and that large quantities of weapons and ammunition were destroyed during the operation.
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government strongly condemned the strikes, accusing Pakistan of bombing civilian homes instead of militant bases. Kabul stated that three civilians were killed in the attacks, presenting a sharply different account of the casualties and the nature of the targets.
The military action follows the September attack in Kohat, where a suicide bombing was followed by a nearly 20-hour gun battle between militants and Pakistani security forces. The assault claimed the lives of 16 police officers and 15 other people. The militant group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, which is linked to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated significantly amid rising cross-border violence. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of providing safe haven to TTP militants and other armed groups that carry out attacks inside Pakistan, while the Taliban denies the allegations and maintains that Pakistan’s militancy is an internal security issue.
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