Pakistan Kills 29 Militants in Border Strikes After Karachi Attack

Pakistani security forces killed 29 fighters during a ground operation and subsequent "calibrated strikes" along the Afghanistan border on Sunday, AP reported. The military targeted the hideouts and safe havens of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), officials said.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced the cross-border operation in a post on X. He said the military launched the action in response to multiple militant attacks across the country. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks targeting police and security forces in recent years, which authorities have blamed on the TTP and allied groups.

There was no immediate response from Afghanistan.

Deadly Karachi Assault

Militants armed with guns and explosives attacked the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi on Saturday, killing three soldiers.

Security forces retaliated, killing three attackers at the scene. They also captured another wounded assailant, whom the military identified as an Afghan national.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack in a statement released Saturday night.

Tense Border Escalation

Sunday's operation occurred less than three weeks after Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan. The military action ended a brief month of relative calm following what Islamabad had described as an "open war" between the neighbouring countries.

Tit-for-tat military actions have escalated, and hundreds of people have died in cross-border fighting since February. During that period, Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory.

China hosted peace talks in April where both sides agreed not to escalate the conflict. Despite this agreement, multiple international mediation efforts have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire.

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban government, which returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, of harbouring TTP militants who launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul consistently denies the charge.