Seven ‘Terror Camps’ Targeted, Dozens Reported Killed as Pakistan–Afghanistan Tensions Escalate

Dozens of people were killed or wounded in Afghanistan after Pakistan conducted cross-border strikes targeting militant hideouts, Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government said on Sunday, amid escalating tensions between the two neighbours.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces carried out airstrikes overnight in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces. “They bombed our civilian compatriots, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children,” Mujahid wrote on X.

Pakistan said the operations were aimed at militant groups it accuses of orchestrating attacks inside its territory. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described the action as “intelligence-based, selective operations” against seven camps allegedly linked to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates. He added that elements associated with the Islamic State were also targeted.

Tarar said Islamabad had “conclusive evidence” that recent suicide attacks in Pakistan were planned by militants operating from Afghan soil. He cited, among other incidents, a deadly suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad earlier this month. Pakistan has repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to act against such groups, he said, but claimed no meaningful steps had been taken.

The strikes signal a sharp deterioration in relations, coming shortly after Kabul released three Pakistani soldiers in what was seen as a confidence-building measure mediated by Saudi Arabia. Despite earlier ceasefire efforts facilitated by Qatar and Turkey, negotiations have failed to produce a lasting resolution to border tensions.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, ties between the two countries have grown increasingly strained, punctuated by periodic clashes and mutual accusations over cross-border militancy. The latest violence underscores the fragility of security along the disputed frontier.