ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has warned Kabul in a recent statement that Islamabad’s tolerance for “cross-border terrorism” has reached its limit after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan to target alleged militant camps.
A Pakistani security official said Islamabad carried out intelligence-based airstrikes on Saturday and destroyed seven centers of the Pakistani Taliban or the TTP militant group in the three Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost. The official said more than 80 militants were killed in the attacks. An earlier statement from Pakistan’s information ministry said the targets included a camp of a Daesh regional affiliate, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which claimed a suicide bombing at an Islamabad Shia mosque that killed 32 people this month.
Saturday’s airstrikes followed a series of attacks inside Pakistan amid a surge in militancy. Authorities say the attacks, particularly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan and the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, were carried out by the TTP and allied groups that Islamabad alleges are operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this and urges Pakistan to concentrate on its security issues without blaming Afghanistan.
In a post on X on Sunday, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces had violated Afghanistan’s territory and killed and wounded dozens of civilians in Nangarhar and Paktika. The Afghan Taliban’s claims of civilian casualties could not be independently verified. Pakistan did not immediately comment on the allegation.
In a statement issued by his office on Sunday night, Zardari said Pakistan’s recent actions in Afghanistan are rooted in its “inherent right” to defend its people against “terrorism” from across the border.
“Tolerance for cross-border terrorism has reached its limit,” Zardari said.
The Pakistani president reiterated Islamabad’s stance that it is concerning that de facto authorities in Kabul continue to allow “terrorist elements” to operate from Afghan soil in violation of their commitments under the Doha Accord, an agreement signed between both sides in October after fierce border clashes last year, Kabul pledged that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used against any country for militant activities.
The president said it was regrettable that despite warnings and repeated engagement from Islamabad, Afghan authorities failed to take action against militants.
“He said Pakistan exercised restraint for a considerable period and confined its response to terrorist hideouts located near the border areas,” the president’s office said.
“However, he warned that Pakistan is fully aware of where the planners, facilitators and patrons of violence are based. If bloodshed continues inside Pakistan, those responsible will not remain beyond reach.”
Zardari reaffirmed Pakistan seeks peace, stability and cooperative relations with its neighbors. However, the Pakistani president said peace “cannot rest on denial, duplicity or inaction against terrorism.”
“The protection of Pakistani lives remains paramount and non-negotiable,” he added.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defense said on Sunday that Pakistan’s airstrikes were in breach of international law and Islamic principles.
It warned that an “appropriate and measured response” will be given in a “suitable time.”
Saturday’s airstrikes and subsequent allegations marks one of the most direct confrontations between Islamabad and Kabul in recent months. It risks further straining already fragile ties along the volatile border between the two neighbors.
