Pakistan-Afghanistan | Pakistan

Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan killed “more than 80 terrorists,” security sources said on Sunday, in a retaliatory operation against groups responsible for recent suicide bombings in Pakistan. Pakistan struck seven “terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Pakistani Taliban of [Fitna al Khwarij] and its affiliates and [the Islamic State-Khorasan Province] at the border region of Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced in a post early Sunday on the social media platform X. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Security sources said late Sunday evening that, “Last night, Pakistan’s intelligence-based airstrikes destroyed seven centres of Fitna al-Khawarij TTP in three provinces of Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost, in which more than eighty Khawarij have been confirmed killed, while more are expected.” They added that the centres targeted included “New Centre No. 1 and New Centre No. 2 in ...

After a week of violence, residents on the frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan are hoping a new ceasefire deal will end the clashes and revive crucial cross-border trade. While the crossings remain closed, life has regained a semblance of normality, with bakers kneading bread, fruit and vegetable sellers wheeling out their carts, and customers frequenting shops. “People can breathe and feel relieved. (But) before that, gunfire damaged a few houses in our village,” said Sadiq Shah, 56, a shopkeeper from Baizai on the Pakistani side. Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan broke out after explosions in Kabul on October 9. The Taliban government blamed the blasts on its neighbour and launched a retaliatory border offensive, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response. After further clashes left soldiers and civilians dead, the two sides declared an initial 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday. New Pakistani strikes hit Afghanistan on Friday, with Islamabad saying it was targeting armed groups that the Taliban...