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Pakistan launched a series of ground and air operations targeting suspected militant positions along and across the Afghan border on Monday, days after a deadly assault on a security facility in Karachi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced.
The operation included intelligence-based raids near the frontier and precision strikes on three locations inside eastern Afghanistan, where Pakistan claimed it destroyed militant hideouts and weapons caches while killing at least 29 militants.
The military campaign followed Saturday's attack on the paramilitary force Rangers' facility in Karachi, where heavily armed militants killed three security personnel. Three attackers were also killed, while another was captured with injuries.
Jamaat-ul Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the assault.
Tarar said Pakistani forces first carried out an intelligence-based ground operation in the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border. During the raid, senior militant commander Khan Farosh, also known as Zabal, and three Jamaat-ul Ahrar militants were killed, while several others were wounded.
Pakistani forces then struck targets in Afghanistan's eastern provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar, killing another 25 militants. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at the sites were also destroyed, according to the minister.
"Pakistan has always strived for maintaining peace and stability in the region, but at the same time shall not compromise on the safety and security of our citizens, which remains our top priority," Tarar said.
Afghanistan's Taliban government disputed Pakistan's account, arguing that the strikes hit civilian areas rather than militant positions.
Government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani aircraft struck locations in the Gayan district of Paktika Province, the Tsamkani district of Paktia Province, and the Manogai district of Kunar Province.
"The attacks resulted in the deaths of and injuries to dozens of civilians, including women and children," Mujahid said. "We strongly condemn this cowardly act of aggression and consider it a crime and an act of brutality."
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained amid repeated militant attacks inside Pakistan and recurring clashes along the border. Islamabad accuses Kabul of allowing militant groups to use Afghan territory to launch attacks against Pakistan, an allegation the Taliban government continues to deny.
The latest military action follows renewed tensions despite a ceasefire agreed in March after weeks of fighting earlier this year. Afghan officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan of causing civilian casualties during cross-border operations, while Islamabad maintains its forces carry out precision strikes against militant targets.
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