Why Pakistan Attacked Afghanistan, Reportedly Killing 29 Including Women and Kids
Pakistan launched a ground operation and cross-border strikes targeting alleged Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts after a wave of militant attacks, including the Karachi Rangers headquarters assault. Islamabad said 29 militants were killed, while Afghanistan claimed dozens of civilians, including women and children, died or were injured, further escalating tensions between the two neighbours.
Pakistan's security forces carried out a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Sunday, followed by what Islamabad described as "calibrated strikes" against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, according to Pakistani officials. However, Afghanistan accused Pakistan of killing and injuring dozens of civilians, including women and children, in the cross-border attacks, highlighting the widening rift between the neighboring countries.
The military operation came after a series of militant attacks inside Pakistan, including an assault on the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi a day earlier. Pakistani authorities said the latest action targeted hideouts used by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that Islamabad has repeatedly accused of launching attacks from Afghan territory. Pakistan: 3 Paramilitary Personnel, 3 Terrorists Killed in Attack at Karachi’s Gulistan-I-Jauhar.
Pakistan Attacks Afghanistan
Why Pakistan Attacked Afghanistan
In a post on X, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the operation was launched in response to multiple militant attacks across the country. Tarar said Pakistan’s latest operation along the Afghan border targeted hideouts and safe havens of the Pakistani Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban are a separate militant group from the Afghan Taliban, although the two are allies. The Afghan Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks targeting police and security forces in recent years. Authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, and allied militant groups for most of the violence. Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Clash: Kabul Retaliates After PAF Airstrikes Kill Women, Children, Hit Hajj Fuel Depots; Claims 14 Pakistani Soldiers Killed.
Afghanistan Condemns Strikes, Alleges Civilian Casualties
In Afghanistan, government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan’s attacks resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens of civilians, including women and children.
"We strongly condemn this cowardly act of aggression and consider it a crime and an act of brutality," he said. The Afghan government has not released an official breakdown of the casualties, while Pakistan has maintained that its operation targeted militant infrastructure.
Karachi Attack Preceded Cross-Border Action
The security operation took place a day after militants armed with guns and explosives targeted the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in the southern port city of Karachi, killing three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested another assailant, whom the military identified as an Afghan national in wounded condition.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack in a statement Saturday night.
The latest operations are likely to further strain already tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul.
Sunday’s cross-border strikes and ground operation came less than three weeks after Pakistan’s military launched airstrikes on what it said were militant hideouts in Afghanistan. They ended about a month of relative calm following what Islamabad had described as an "open war" between the neighboring countries, despite international efforts to broker a lasting peace.
The escalation follows months of tit-for-tat military action between the two countries. Hundreds of people have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory.
Multiple rounds of talks have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire. China also hosted the two sides in April and Beijing later said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed not to escalate their conflict and to explore a solution.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2026 03:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).