Pakistan Launches Ground Operation, Says 29 Militants Killed Along Afghan Border

ISLAMABAD (Terror Monitor/AP) — Pakistani security forces on Sunday carried out a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, followed by cross-border strikes targeting suspected militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 militants, according to Pakistani officials.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X that the operation was launched in response to a series of recent militant attacks across Pakistan. Afghan authorities did not immediately comment on the operation.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in attacks targeting police and security forces in recent years. Pakistani officials blame the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allied militant groups for most of the violence.

The latest operation came a day after militants attacked the headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in the southern port city of Karachi. According to officials, three security personnel were killed in the assault, while security forces killed three attackers and captured another wounded suspect, whom the military identified as an Afghan national.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the TTP, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack.

According to Tarar, Sunday's operation targeted suspected TTP hideouts and safe havens near the Afghan border. Although the TTP and the Afghan Taliban are separate organizations, Pakistan maintains that they have close ties. The Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Analysts say the latest cross-border operation is likely to further strain already tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

The operation is part of a series of cross-border military actions between the two neighboring countries in recent months. Pakistan has repeatedly carried out strikes against alleged militant hideouts inside Afghanistan, while Kabul has consistently denied accusations that it allows TTP or other militant groups to use Afghan territory to launch attacks.

Reports indicate that hundreds of people have been killed on both sides of the border since February, while several rounds of internationally mediated peace talks, including Chinese-led efforts, have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire.