ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday rejected allegations by Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities that its counterterrorism operations had killed civilians, defending its actions as self-defense against militant groups it accused Kabul of sheltering and supporting.

Relations between the neighbors have deteriorated amid rising militant violence in Pakistan, cross-border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan. Islamabad accuses groups including the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), of operating from Afghan territory. Kabul denies providing sanctuary.

The TTP is separate from, but allied with, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban. The dispute has fueled repeated exchanges of fire and competing accounts of who has been killed in Pakistan’s strikes.

Civilian casualties have also been reported by the United Nations. Following strikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces on Oct. 1, the UN mission said at least 10 civilians, most of them children, were killed and nine injured. Pakistan said those operations targeted militant hideouts and killed 22 militants.

“Pakistan categorically rejects the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations regarding civilian casualties attributed to its counter-terrorism operations,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

It accused the Taliban authorities of failing to prevent Afghan territory from being used to plan and launch attacks against Pakistan, saying such attacks had caused more than 3,500 casualties in 2026. The statement did not provide a civilian and security-force breakdown.

“No responsible state can remain passive when its civilians and security forces are repeatedly targeted,” it said.

The Foreign Office said Pakistan’s actions were undertaken “in exercise of its right to self-defense, under principles of necessity and as a measure of last resort,” and were directed exclusively at militants and their logistical support bases.

“The scale and scope of the action reflected restraint, particularly in light of the severity and frequency of terrorist attacks faced by Pakistan,” it added.

The statement accused the Taliban of sheltering the TTP, the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army and their affiliates, citing reports by UN monitoring mechanisms.

A UN sanctions monitoring report published this year described Afghanistan as providing a permissive environment for several militant groups, particularly the TTP.

Pakistan has repeatedly urged the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for preventing cross-border militancy and said it reserved the right to take measures to protect its sovereignty and citizens.

The statement followed a warning by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry of further action if Afghan territory continued to be used for attacks. It also came a day after Pakistan’s military reported that two soldiers and six TTP militants were killed during an operation in Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Pakistan.