Pakistan claims 28 militants killed in Afghan border strikes

Pakistan said security forces carried out precision strikes on militant hideouts across the Afghan border, killing 28 militants, including several suicide bombers. The federal Ministry of Information said the strikes destroyed three targets, including a suicide bomber training camp, in an operation based on credible intelligence.

The statement said weapons and ammunition stockpiles at the facilities were also destroyed. It added that only militant centres were targeted and every precaution was taken to avoid collateral damage.

The Taliban government in Kabul gave a different account. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, wrote on X that Pakistani forces bombed civilian areas in the provinces of Kunar and Paktika overnight, killing one woman and two men and wounding four others, including two women. He said the victims were ordinary local residents.

Deputy Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the strikes took place at 3 am. In Nurgal district of Kunar, a house belonging to a villager named Noor Ahmad in Pathan village was completely destroyed, killing Noor Ahmad and two other family members and wounding four, including two children and two women. In Barmal district of Paktika, he said, strikes hit the Rokha and Torkandi areas, destroying a shop and an uninhabited house but causing no casualties. Fitrat also posted photographs on X, which BBC Urdu said it could not independently verify.

Mujahid said Pakistan's military establishment carried out the attacks to divert attention from its security failures inside the country, and that the Afghan people would give an appropriate response. Pakistan's Ministry of Information rejected the civilian casualty claims and said the strikes followed a series of militant attacks on civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It said security forces carried out a coordinated ground operation in Kohat, Hangu and Tall based on intelligence, and then launched airstrikes on hideouts of the groups responsible.

The statement said Pakistan had always worked for peace and stability in the region, but the protection of citizens' lives and property was the country's top priority. It said Afghanistan continued to be a centre of terrorism and the threat to Pakistan originated from Afghan soil.

Since border tensions escalated in October 2025, Pakistan has carried out multiple air strikes inside Afghanistan. Islamabad says it targets hideouts of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and affiliated groups that use Afghan territory to plan attacks. Kabul denies the allegation and calls the TTP an internal Pakistani matter.

The latest exchange follows two deadly incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Hangu, an exchange of fire between security forces and militants killed eight militants and six security personnel, including two officers, according to ISPR. On 18 September, a suicide attack on a police lines mosque in Kohat killed 23 people, including 17 police personnel.