Pakistan Strikes Taliban-Linked Targets in Afghanistan, Reports Say

Two Pakistani outlets reported on Wednesday that Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Taliban-linked targets inside Afghanistan, with one outlet saying a senior commander linked to the Gul Bahadur group was among those killed.

Tapmad reported that Pakistan launched airstrikes on 10 Taliban-linked locations in Afghanistan. The outlet's headline carried the claim but its full report was not immediately available, so the specific sites, the date of the operation and the weapons used could not be confirmed.

The Daily Independent reported that a senior commander linked to the Gul Bahadur group was reportedly killed in a Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan. The outlet's headline and standfirst did not name the commander, give the location of the strike or state how many other people were killed or wounded.

Neither report cited an official confirmation from the Pakistani military, the Afghan Taliban administration or any other government. There was no immediate statement from Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, and Afghan officials had not commented at the time the reports were published.

The reports also did not make clear whether the strikes were carried out by manned aircraft or by drones, or whether they were in response to a specific cross-border attack inside Pakistan. The two outlets did not provide casualty figures beyond the reported death of the commander.

The Gul Bahadur group is among the militant factions that Pakistan has previously accused of launching attacks from Afghan soil. Cross-border strikes by Pakistan have drawn condemnation from Afghan authorities in the past, who describe them as violations of Afghan sovereignty.

The two reports emerged on Thursday afternoon Pakistan time. Both news items were initially distributed through Google News RSS feeds, and the full articles were not accessible at the time this story was filed. Skardu Times could not independently verify the reports.

Until further details are released by independent sources or official statements, the airstrikes and the reported death of the commander remain unconfirmed.