At least 36 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 163 injured in Pakistani airstrikes in three eastern provinces on Sunday night. Afghanistan’s Taliban government’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said on Monday that Islamabad would respond.‘B warns. Meanwhile, Pakistan described the attack as an anti-terrorism operation and claimed that 29 terrorists were killed.
Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, said on social media that 36 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 163 wounded in the attack. He strongly condemned the incident and gave a clear message that Pakistan will have to suffer the consequences. Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said in a statement on Monday that based on intelligence inputs, the Army and Air Force launched a well-planned joint operation in Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the Pak-Afghan border on Sunday night.
Pakistan’s information minister claimed that the operation targeted the bases of Fitna al-Khawariz, aka Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Pakistan’s move came after TTP’s shadow group Jamaat-ul-Ahrra claimed responsibility for the attack in Karachi on Saturday night. Tarar said that a total of 29 terrorists including TTP commander Khan Farush and three members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar were killed in the operation. He also alleged that India is behind these terrorist groups.
Qatar has been in the country since October, Despite four rounds of peace talks between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have not improved. There have been several clashes between the two sides since February this year. Pakistan alleges that TTP and other terrorist groups are operating against Pakistan under the auspices of the Afghan Taliban. Earlier, on February 21, Pakistani bombings in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces killed many civilians.
The current war-like situation between the two countries has led to frequent clashes between the Pakistani army and Afghan forces along various parts of the 2,600 km Durand Line. The latest attack and the subsequent threat of retaliation from Kabul pose a serious threat to the security of the entire region and all eyes are on what the leadership of both countries will do next.