Pakistan carries out airstrikes in Afghanistan after Kohat attack, Taliban says three civilians killed

New Delhi: Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan early Monday, days after the deadly attack on the old police lines complex in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and a day after six Pakistani security personnel were killed in Hangu. Pakistan said 28 militants and multiple suicide bombers were killed in the strikes, while Afghan authorities said three civilians from one family died in Kunar province.

Pakistan’s ministry of information and broadcasting said three targets linked to what it calls “Fitna al Khawarij” and affiliated groups were destroyed in “calibrated” strikes based on credible intelligence. Islamabad uses the term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The ministry said the targets included a suicide-bomber training centre and claimed weapons and ammunition were also destroyed. The claims have not been independently verified. 

The Taliban government said Pakistani aircraft struck Nurgal district in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province and Barmal district in Paktika province. In a post on X, Taliban deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat said a house in Kunar was hit, killing three members of the same family and injuring four others. He said strikes in Paktika destroyed a shop and an unoccupied house without causing casualties.

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, condemned the attacks and said Afghanistan would respond “appropriately”. Kabul has denied Pakistan’s accusation that it permits the TTP and other anti-Pakistan militants to operate from Afghan territory.

As RNA Media reported earlier, the suicide bombing and armed assault on Kohat’s old police lines took place during Friday prayers, when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near a mosque before attackers entered the compound. Dawn, citing police and counterterrorism department officials after a 21-hour clearance operation, reported 23 deaths, including 17 police personnel and six civilians. Reuters later put the toll at 24 and said Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen, headed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, had claimed responsibility.

In neighbouring Hangu on Sunday, six Pakistani security personnel, including captain Abuzar Farooq and Lieutenant Sheraz Babar, were killed during an exchange of fire. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said eight militants were also killed.

The latest military action comes amid worsening security tensions between Islamabad and Kabul. The ISPR director general, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told Arab News that Pakistan’s main demand was that Afghan territory not be used to support attacks inside the country and said Islamabad reserved the right to act in self-defence. Mujahid, however, has denied that Afghanistan allows the TTP to operate from its territory and said Kabul wants continued dialogue and cooperation with Pakistan.