Pakistan launches airstrikes targeting suspected Pakistani Taliban hideouts in Afghanistan

Pakistan conducts airstrikes on Pakistani Taliban hideouts in Afghanistan, sparking condemnation from Afghan officials and residents.

Pakistan in rare airstrikes targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighboring Afghanistan on Tuesday (December 24, 2024), dismantling a training facility and killing some insurgents, four security officials said.

“The strikes were carried out in a mountainous area in Paktika province bordering Pakistan,” said the officials. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media on the record. It was unclear whether the jets went deep inside Afghanistan, and how the strikes were launched.

No spokesman for Pakistan’s military was immediately available to share further details. But it was the second such attack on alleged hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban since March, when Pakistan said intelligence-based strikes took place in the border regions inside Afghanistan.

In Kabul, the Afghan Defense Ministry condemned the airstrikes by Pakistan, saying the bombing targeted civilians, including women and children. It said that most of the victims were refugees from the Waziristan region.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers this a brutal act against all international principles and blatant aggression and strongly condemns it,” the Ministry said.

Local residents said at least eight people, including women and children, were killed in the airstrikes by Pakistan. They said the death toll from the strikes may rise.

In a post on the X platform, the Afghan Defense Ministry said the Pakistani side should know that such unilateral measures are not a solution to any problem.