Pakistan says it carried out “well-planned and calibrated” air strikes on militant hideouts and safe havens in Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing 22 militants.
Islamabad announced the strikes on Thursday, saying two locations were targeted on the basis of what it described ascredible intelligence.
Initial reports indicated that 22 militants were killed, while large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at the hideouts were destroyed, according to Pakistan.
In a statement posted on X, the Information Ministry said the strikes were directed at camps and hideouts linked to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, and Balochistan-based militant groups.
Pakistan said the two locations were selected based on intelligence and targeted with what it described as precision and accuracy.
The government said the strikes destroyed the identified targets along with weapons and ammunition stored there.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused militant groups operating from Afghan territory of carrying out attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan has also urged the Taliban government in Kabul to dismantle what it describes as militant sanctuaries, particularly those linked to the TTP.
A UN Security Council-mandated monitoring report covering 16 December 2025 to 9 June 2026 said continued support for the TTP from Afghan Taliban elements had contributed to an increase in the frequency and lethality of attacks in Pakistan. The report also noted some initial steps by Kabul to constrain the group.
Pakistan said it has consistently sought regional peace and stability, but that the safety and security of its citizens remained its “foremost priority.”
Pakistan said Afghanistan continued to be a “hub of terrorism” and that the threat to Pakistan emanated from Afghan territory.
It said the latest strikes were directed at what it described as terrorist hubs and that “maximum precautions” were taken to ensure there was no collateral damage.
Pakistan said its campaign against what it calls foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism would continue.
The Taliban government gave a different account of the strikes.
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes hit three houses in Kunar and Helmand provinces.
He said nine people, including women and children, were killed and 11 others wounded.
Mujahid condemned the strikes as an act of aggression.
The competing casualty figures and accounts of the targets could not be independently verified.
The latest action follows a sharp escalation in Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions during September.
On 21 September, Pakistan carried out air strikes against what it described as militant hideouts in Afghanistan after major terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Islamabad said more than 28 militants were killed.
The escalation continued after Pakistan said eight drones entered its airspace from Afghanistan.
Islamabad later said it carried out precision aerial and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan, saying the sites were used to launch or store drones.
The latest strikes add to a series of military exchanges and competing accusations between Islamabad and Kabul, as Pakistan continues to raise concerns over militant activity it says originates from Afghan territory.
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