Pakistan Strikes Terror Hideouts In Afghanistan

In retaliation for the recent insurgent strikes, Pakistan attacked at least seven terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan during a midnight military operation, it was revealed early on Sunday.

The most recent terrorist incident occurred on Saturday in the Bannu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where a soldier and an army lieutenant colonel were killed in a suicide attack.

Pakistan has conclusive evidence that Khwarij carried out these acts of terrorism, including at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad, one each in Bajaur and Bannu, and another in Bannu on Saturday, at the direction of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement.

“Responsibilities for these attacks were also claimed by Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban belonging to Fitna al Khwarij (FAK) and their affiliates, and Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP),” the ministry said.

It said that despite repeated efforts by Pakistan to urge the Afghan Taliban regime to take verifiable measures to prevent the use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups and foreign proxies to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan, it “failed” to undertake any substantive action against them.

“In this backdrop, Pakistan, in a retributive response, has carried out intelligence-based selective targeting of seven Terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Pakistani Taliban of FAK and its affiliates and ISKP at the border region of Pakistan-Afghan border with precision and accuracy,” it said.

The minister further reaffirmed that Pakistan expects the Afghan interim government to discharge its responsibilities.

Pakistan also expects the international community to play a positive and constructive role by urging the Taliban regime to stand by its commitments as part of the Doha Agreement to deny use of its soil against other countries; an act vital for regional and global peace and security, it stated.

The statement added that while Pakistan has always worked to keep the region peaceful and stable, "safety and security of our citizens remains our top priority."

Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have deteriorated due to the alleged failure of Kabul to stop terrorists from using its soil to attack Pakistan.

Last year in October, the two sides were briefly engaged in an armed conflict in which 23 Pakistan soldiers and over 200 Afghanistan Taliban soldiers were killed, according to the Pakistan army.