ISLAMABAD: Pakistan carried out intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations in the border regions inside Afghanistan on the morning of 18 March 2024. The prime target of today’s operation was the terrorists belonging to Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, which along with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, resulting in deaths of hundreds of civilians and law enforcement officials. Afghan officials confirm 08 women and children dead in Pakistani strikes and warns of dire consequences.
The latest terrorist attack took place on 16 March 2024 at a security post in Mir Ali in North Waziristan and claimed the lives of seven Pakistani soldiers.
In another operation , on night 17/18 March 2024, security forces conducted an intelligence based operation in North Waziristan District, on reported presence of terrorists.
During the conduct of operation, after intense fire exchange, eight terrorists including HVT Terrorist commander Sehra Janan were sent to hell. He was involved in orchestrating the terrorist attack on Security Forces’ Post in Mir Ali on 16 March and was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies.
Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area as the Security Forces of Pakistan remain determined to wipe-out the menace of terrorism from the country.
Foreign Office of Pakistan, on strikes inside Afghanistan, has mentioned that over the past two years, Pakistan has repeatedly conveyed its serious concerns to the Interim Afghan Government over the presence of terror outfits including TTP inside Afghanistan. These terrorists pose a grave threat to Pakistan’s security and have consistently used Afghan territory to launch terror attacks inside Pakistani territory.
Pakistan accords prime importance to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. It has, therefore, always prioritized dialogue and cooperation to confront the terrorist threat. We have repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities to take concrete and effective action to ensure that the Afghan soil is not used as a staging ground for terrorism against Pakistan. We have also called on them to deny safe havens to TTP and to hand over its leadership to Pakistan.
Pakistan has great respect for the people of Afghanistan. However, certain elements among those in power in Afghanistan are actively patronising TTP and using them as a proxy against Pakistan. Such an approach against a brotherly country, which stood with the people of Afghanistan through thick and thin, manifests shortsightedness.
It ignores the support extended by Pakistan to the people of Afghanistan over the last several decades. We urge these elements in power to rethink the policy of siding with Khwarij terrorists shedding the blood of innocent Pakistanis and to make a clear choice to stand with the people of Pakistan.
Foreign Office said, Terrorist groups like TTP are a collective threat to regional peace and security. We fully realize the challenge Afghan authorities face in combating the threat posed by TTP. Pakistan would therefore continue to work towards finding joint solutions in countering terrorism and to prevent any terrorist organization from sabotaging bilateral relations with Afghanistan.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of the government, alleged earlier today in a statement that Pakistani aircraft had carried out airstrikes on Afghan soil in the provinces of Paktika and Khost along the Pakistan border, killing eight people.
The Paktika province is located near Pakistan’s South Waziristan District while Khost is situated near North Waziristan.
Mujahid said that at “around 3am, Pakistani aircraft bombarded civilian homes” in Khost and Paktika provinces, claiming that all eight people killed were women and children.
Mujahid told Dawn.com that planes had bombed the Laman area in Paktika’s Barmal district and the Afghan-Dubai area in Khost’s Spera district.
Alleging that “houses of common people were targeted”, he said three women and as many children were killed in Paktika and a house collapsed while two women were killed in Khost, where a house was destroyed as well.
In a government statement posted on Mujahid’s X account, he said: “The Pakistani side is saying that [militant] Abdullah Shah (Pakistani FO shared the accomplices of Gull Bahadur)was targeted in the strikes but he lives on the Pakistani side. Members of the same tribe live on both sides and routinely move across the border.”
Pakistan strikes against hideouts inside Iran used by terrorists responsible for recent attacks
Afghan defence ministry, in a statement, said its forces “targeted bases of Pakistani security forces across the border in response to Pakistan air strikes. In response to that aggression, the border forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan targeted military bases of Pakistan’s army across the artificial Durand Line with heavy weapons.”
“The country’s defence and security forces are ready to respond to any kind of aggression and will defend the country’s territorial integrity in any situation,” it asserted.
The statement, issued with a photo of Afghan Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob, said Pakistani fighter jets and drones entered Afghanistan airspace and bombed “houses of civilians in an act of aggression”.
Separately, a captain was reported to have been martyred and two soldiers were said to be injured in cross-border exchanges in Kurram District’s Parachinar today.
