ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said early Monday its security forces had killed more than 20 militants in strikes on alleged militant hideouts inside Afghanistan, following a militant attack that killed three Pakistani paramilitary troops in Karachi on Saturday.
Pakistan’s military said that militants belonging to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, attacked a camp of the paramilitary Rangers force in Karachi on Saturday night, adding that Rangers personnel killed three militants and captured one in injured condition who was an Afghan national.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said on Sunday Pakistan would “undertake retribution operations against the perpetrators of this attack to avenge the Shahadat (martyrdom) of its soldiers.”
In a post on X, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajaur district and killed a militant commander, Khan Farosh alias Zabal, along with three militants belonging to “Indian proxy Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.”
“Based on credible intelligence, precise targeting of terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Jamaat ul Ahrar and Fitna al khwarij (Pakistani Taliban) have also been carried out on night [of] 28/29 June, in border region of Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” Tarar said.
“Three targets in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed during precision strikes killing twenty five terrorists. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at these Marakiz and hideouts were also destroyed.”
There was no immediate response from Afghanistan and India to the statement.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks in Pakistan’s western regions bordering Afghanistan in recent years. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
The attacks have soured relations between Islamabad and Kabul, leading to fierce clashes between both sides since February this year.
“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 added.
