ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry confirmed on Monday that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has conducted a series of precise, retaliatory airstrikes inside Afghanistan, resulting in the killing of over a hundred terrorists.
Briefing the Senate, the Upper House of the Parliament on Monday, he said the strikes targeted hideouts and training facilities of Fitna al-Khawarij.
The state uses the term Fitna al Khwarij to refer to terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said that the operation was a direct response to the interim Afghan government’s failure to prevent its territory from being used as a launchpad for terrorist attacks against Pakistan.
He stated that the PAF’s strikes successfully destroyed terrorist sanctuaries and training camps across three Afghan provinces.
While the minister did not specify the provinces, security sources indicated the targets were located in the eastern regions, particularly in Khost and Kunar, areas known to harbour anti-Pakistan terrorist groups.
“The operation was a necessity, not a choice,” Minister Chaudhry told the House. “For months, Pakistan has demonstrated utmost restraint and repeatedly shared irrefutable, credible evidence with the Kabul administration regarding the presence of terrorist groups plotting violent activities inside Pakistan from Afghan soil. Regrettably, the response from the other side has been ineffective, forcing us to exercise our inherent right to self-defence,” he said.
The government maintains that terrorist groups operate with impunity from safe havens in Afghanistan, orchestrating cross-border raids and suicide bombings that have claimed hundreds of Pakistani lives in recent months.
This marks one of the most extensive confirmed cross-border operations by Pakistan since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in 2021. The strikes signal a hardening of Islamabad’s stance towards the neighbouring country’s interim rulers.
The minister warned that Pakistan is determined to carry out similar strikes in the future if cross-border terrorist activities persist.
Pakistan targeted seven hideouts
The strikes, conducted before dawn on Sunday, targeted seven hideouts linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — referred to by the state as Fitna al-Khawarij — and the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), according to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The footage shows significant structural damage to buildings identified as terror infrastructure.
The intelligence-based precision strikes targeted terror camps in Nangarhar, Paktika, and Khost provinces of Afghanistan.
The Pakistan Strategic Forum, a network of defence researchers and analysts from Pakistan and allied nations, has shared video footage showing the aftermath of Pakistani precision airstrikes targeting a militant facility in Afghanistan.
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In a post on social media, the forum said the strikes destroyed a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) training compound in Ghani Khel, describing it as a key militant facility. The post stated:
“Ghani Khel TTP militant training facility in Afghanistan destroyed after being struck by Pakistan’s precision airstrikes.”
Officials described the operation as a “limited, proportionate and retributive response” to recent suicide bombings inside Pakistan, including attacks in Islamabad, Bajaur, and Bannu during the holy month of Ramadan.
Pakistani authorities rejected Afghanistan’s claims of civilian casualties, saying the operation was based on the selective targeting of militant infrastructure.
The pre-dawn strikes mark one of the most significant cross-border actions in recent months, underscoring heightened tensions between Islamabad and Kabul amid a renewed wave of militancy along the frontier.
