Islamabad – Pakistan says it took out 29 militants in air and ground strikes near the Afghan border on Sunday. Kabul says the same attacks killed dozens of civilians. The two accounts don’t match, and the fallout is getting louder.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters the strikes hit three sites in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar. He put the militant death toll at 25, and said “large quantities” of weapons were destroyed. He added that four more fighters tied to the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the TTP were killed in Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The TTP itself confirmed that one of its commanders, Khan Ferosh, alias Zabul, died in that operation.
Afghan officials gave a very different picture. Government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said 38 civilians died and 163 were hurt. Most of those losses, he said, came from a single house in Paktia where 28 people were killed and 158 injured. Local officials reported a second strike on people trying to help survivors.
“Everyone was asleep when the planes came,” said a local resident, Mata Khan. “Children, women, men, elders were inside that house.”
Afghanistan’s Deputy Information Minister Mohajer Farahi said the strikes “will certainly be avenged at the right time.”
This marks Pakistan’s second cross-border operation in Afghanistan this month. Islamabad argues that armed groups are using Afghan soil to launch attacks into Pakistan. Kabul rejects that and calls it an internal Pakistani problem. The UN mission in Afghanistan said it had verified 28 deaths and 49 injuries so far.
Final Thought
Two governments, two stories, and a border that keeps bleeding. If Pakistan’s aim was to stop militant attacks, the civilian deaths will only make the job harder. Kabul’s threat of revenge will only raise the temperature. Without a way to verify targets and protect civilians, this is not going to end. It will just run in circles, and both sides will keep paying for it.
Brick is a professional content writer specializing in informational and research-based articles. He focuses on creating accurate, well-structured, and reader-friendly content designed to inform users and support search engine visibility.
