Daijiworld Media Network - Islamabad

Islamabad, Feb 22: Pakistan carried out airstrikes early Sunday along its border with Afghanistan, targeting what officials described as militant hideouts in response to recent deadly attacks inside the country.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the military conducted “intelligence-based and selective operations.” He stated that seven camps linked to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were targeted. The TTP has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Pakistan.

Tarar added that a group connected to the Islamic State was also among those targeted in the border region. Pakistan has carried out similar strikes in the past, including operations deep inside Afghanistan in October last year to hit militant bases.
The latest airstrikes came days after a deadly suicide bombing in Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. An attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security post, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Authorities later claimed the attacker was an Afghan national.

In a separate incident in Bannu district, another suicide bomber targeted a security convoy, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel. Following the attacks, Pakistan’s military warned that operations against those responsible would continue regardless of their location.

Tarar said Pakistan had “clear evidence” that recent attacks, including a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that killed 31 worshippers, were planned by militants operating from Afghanistan. He said Islamabad had repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban government to prevent its territory from being used for attacks against Pakistan but claimed that no decisive action had been taken so far.

Pakistan has also called on the international community to pressure Afghan authorities to honour commitments under the Doha agreement, which states that Afghan soil should not be used to threaten other countries.

Militant violence has surged in Pakistan in recent years, much of it attributed to the TTP and other armed groups. The TTP is separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban but is believed to have close ties with them. Both the TTP and Afghan officials deny that the group operates from Afghan territory.