Pakistan strikes Afghanistan border targets after alleged militant attacks

Pakistan's security forces killed at least 29 militants in ground and air operations along the border, while the Afghan Taliban said dozens were killed in air strikes in border areas. The latest fighting added another volatile round to a dispute that has turned the Durand Line into a flashpoint and left civilians exposed to repeated cross-border violence.

Islamabad said the strikes were a response to "terrorist attacks" launched from Afghanistan, and its foreign ministry has repeatedly pressed the Taliban-led government in Kabul to take "stern actions" against militants operating from Afghan soil. The Taliban dismissed the attacks as "cowardly" and cast them as aggression, hardening a confrontation that has centered for years on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban.

The TTP has become the core accusation in the relationship. Pakistan says the group has used Afghan territory to stage attacks inside Pakistan, while Taliban officials reject that charge and argue that Pakistan is targeting Afghan territory under the cover of counterterrorism. That dispute has steadily poisoned relations between the two governments, narrowed room for cooperation and made every border incident carry the risk of retaliation.

The civilian toll has been a constant source of anger and disputed accounts. In April 2022, Pakistan carried out air strikes in Afghanistan’s Khost and Kunar provinces after the deadliest cross-border tensions in years. Afghan officials said 41 civilians, mainly women and children, were killed in Khost and 22 were wounded, and UNAMA said it was deeply concerned by reports of civilian casualties and was working to verify the losses.

The pattern repeated in December 2024, when Pakistan launched strikes in Khost and Paktika provinces. Afghan and UN-linked reporting described dozens of civilian casualties and said it was Pakistan’s most significant military action in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan since 2021. Earlier in June 2026, Pakistani air strikes on three Afghan provinces killed at least 13 people, including 11 children, according to the Afghan Taliban government.

Each new round of strikes has reinforced the same cycle: Pakistan says it is hitting militant hideouts and infrastructure linked to attacks inside the country, while the Taliban says civilians are being killed and Afghan sovereignty is under assault. With both sides hardening their positions, the border conflict now carries a sharper risk of wider clashes, more civilian deaths and further deterioration in already strained Pakistan-Taliban ties.