ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed over 30 Pakistani Taliban militants in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan, the Pakistani military said on Thursday, hours after a ceasefire with Kabul following deadly cross-border clashes.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years, where militant groups, mainly the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have stepped up their attacks against security forces and law enforcement agencies, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of officials in recent months.
The surge in militancy last week triggered some of the deadliest cross-border clashes between the Pakistani security forces and the Afghan Taliban. Islamabad accuses the Taliban of allowing the use of their soil and India of supporting militant groups for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said on Thursday that Pakistani forces had killed 34 militants in multiple engagements in North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Bannu districts between Oct. 12 and Oct. 15. Pakistani military separately exchanged cross-border fire with the Taliban forces on Wednesday.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji (militant) found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement, adding that its anti-militancy campaign, ‘Azm-e-Istehkam,’ will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of “foreign sponsored and supported terrorism” from the country.
There was no immediate comment from Afghanistan or India in response to the Pakistani military’s statement, which came a day after Pakistan carried out an airstrike on the Afghan border province of Kandahar and hit the town of Spin Boldak, officials in both countries said.
Pakistani security officials said the airstrike had targeted a brigade of Afghan Taliban troops and that dozens were killed. Enayatullah Khowarazmi, Afghanistan’s defense ministry spokesperson, said residential areas of Spin Boldak were hit.
Pakistan carried out another airstrike in Kabul, the officials said. It was not clear what the target of the strike was in Kabul.
Pakistan’s military said earlier on Wednesday it had repelled coordinated attacks by Afghan Taliban fighters at multiple points along the shared border in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, saying Kabul’s forces had destroyed a key trade gate and endangered civilians.
Last weekend, Pakistan said 23 of its soldiers were killed in cross-border fighting while Afghan authorities claimed to have killed 58 Pakistani troops and lost 9 of their own.
But the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Thursday that at least 18 people have been killed and more than 360 wounded in Afghanistan in military clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan since Oct. 10,
“UNAMA calls on all parties to bring a lasting end to hostilities to protect civilians,” it said.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have sharply deteriorated over the surge in militancy in Pakistan’s western regions since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) long border known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has never recognized.
China supports countries in exercising restraint and realizing a full and lasting ceasefire, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, when asked about Pakistan and Afghanistan agreeing to a 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press briefing that Beijing stands ready to continue to play a constructive role for continued improvement in the two countries’ relations.
