Pakistan kills 29 militants in border operation and strikes in Afghanistan

Pakistan security forces killed 29 militants in an intelligence-based border operation and follow-on strikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier, with officials saying a commander identified as Khan Farosh was among those killed. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the action came in response to multiple militant attacks across the country and targeted hideouts linked to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khwarij, Islamabad’s term for the Pakistani Taliban.

Tarar said the ground operation began near Bajaur in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where security forces moved against a group of militants close to the border. He said the operation was followed by calibrated strikes on three targets in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces, which Pakistan said were destroyed. The strikes marked one of the clearest signs yet that Islamabad is willing to answer domestic attacks with force across the frontier, even as that risks deepening the dispute with Kabul over militant safe havens.

The operation came a day after militants armed with guns and explosives attacked the regional headquarters of the Pakistan Rangers in Karachi. Pakistan’s military said three soldiers were killed and four others were wounded in the assault. Security forces killed the attackers and captured one wounded assailant, whom the military identified as an Afghan national. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attack.

The strikes highlight the pressure on Pakistan’s security doctrine as militant violence spreads from the border districts into major cities. Islamabad has repeatedly accused armed groups operating from Afghan territory of threatening its security, while the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan have traded blame over cross-border violence since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. With no immediate response from Afghanistan, the latest operation underlined how quickly tactical gains against militant cells can widen into a broader regional confrontation rather than close it down.