Pakistan Reports 29 Militants Killed in Border Strikes Against Afghan Hideouts

The strikes followed an attack just one day earlier in which gunmen equipped with firearms and explosives killed three soldiers in Karachi.

By Agence France Presse and The Associated Press

Published On 29 Jun 202629 Jun 2026

Pakistani security forces conducted a ground offensive and aerial strikes along the Pakistan‑Afghanistan frontier in retaliation for recent attacks, eliminating 29 militants, officials said.

In a social‑media post, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the operation was launched after a series of assaults by armed groups nationwide.

“Three sites in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed during precision strikes,” Tarar said on X, referring to three eastern Afghan provinces.

Afghan officials have not yet issued a response.

Pakistan has experienced a rise in attacks aimed at police and security personnel over the past few years.

Authorities attribute most of the violence to the Pakistani Taliban, commonly known as TTP, and its allied militias.

The incident follows an assault the previous day in which gunmen armed with weapons and explosives stormed the regional headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers in Karachi’s southern port, killing three soldiers.

Security forces killed three of the attackers and detained a fourth, whom the military identified as an Afghan national wounded in the clash.

Jamaat‑ul‑Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack in a statement released Saturday night.

Tarar added that the latest cross‑border operation aimed at destroying hideouts and safe havens used by the Pakistani Taliban.

Although the Pakistani Taliban is a distinct entity from the Afghan Taliban, the two groups maintain an alliance.

The Afghan Taliban regained control of neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.

These recent operations are expected to further aggravate the already strained relationship between Islamabad and Kabul.

Sunday’s cross‑border strikes and ground offensive occurred less than three weeks after Pakistan’s military carried out air strikes on what it described as militant hideouts in Afghanistan.

They brought to an end roughly a month of relative calm that followed Islamabad’s characterization of the situation as an “open war” between the two nations, despite ongoing international attempts to negotiate a lasting peace.

The escalation continues a pattern of reciprocal military actions that has persisted for months.

Since February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistani air raids on its territory, hundreds have died in cross‑border fighting.

Multiple rounds of internationally mediated peace talks have failed to produce a durable ceasefire.

In April, China hosted negotiations between the two sides; Beijing later announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to avoid further escalation and to pursue a diplomatic solution.

Since last year, Pakistan has conducted numerous strikes along the border and inside Afghanistan, targeting alleged sanctuaries of the Pakistani Taliban and other armed groups.

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban government of sheltering fighters who launch lethal attacks inside Pakistan, particularly those linked to the Pakistani Taliban.

Kabul rejects those allegations.

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