Pakistan launches border strikes in Afghanistan after Karachi attack, 29 militants killed; Taliban says 36 civilians dead

The Karachi attack

On Saturday 27 June, militants armed with guns and explosives attacked the regional headquarters of the Pakistan Rangers in Karachi, killing three paramilitary soldiers and wounding four others. Security forces killed three assailants and arrested a wounded attacker, whom the military identified as an Afghan national. The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a breakaway faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility that night.

Pakistan’s cross-border operation

In response, Pakistan launched a two-phase operation. A ground incursion on Sunday evening in Bajaur, in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killed several JuA members, including a senior commander, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. Overnight, the Pakistani air force carried out “calibrated strikes” on militant hideouts in the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar, destroying three sites and killing 25 fighters, Tarar said. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition were also destroyed.

“Our relentless anti‑terror campaign will continue without respite to eradicate from our country the threat of terrorism sponsored and supported by abroad.”

Tarar said the total number of militants killed across both phases was 29. On Monday, Pakistan summoned the Afghan chargé d’affaires in Islamabad and issued a formal diplomatic protest. Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andrabi stated that Afghan soil and nationals continue to be used to orchestrate attacks inside Pakistan.

“Afghan soil and Afghan nationals continue to be used to orchestrate terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.”

Civilian casualty allegations

The Afghan Taliban government sharply contested Islamabad’s version. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted images of wounded children and accused Pakistan of hitting residential areas, claiming that at least 36 civilians were killed and 163 wounded, many of them women and children. Afghan authorities reported that in Paktia, a house was struck and when neighbours tried to rescue victims the same area was bombed again, killing 28 civilians. Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the dead had no connection with any armed group.

“Kabul condemns the attacks as a cowardly act of aggression.”

Neither side’s casualty figures could be independently verified.

Diplomatic escalation

Alongside its military action, Pakistan moved on the diplomatic front. Ambassador Sardar Ahmad Shakib’s call for de‑escalation, broadcast by Tolo News just as the air strikes began, was overtaken by events. Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul handed a separate demarche to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the Afghan foreign ministry summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in Kabul to protest the violation of its airspace and civilian deaths.

A repeating pattern

The cross‑border operation is the latest in a series of escalations since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan regularly combines military strikes, diplomatic pressure and deportations to counter armed groups it says are sheltered in Afghanistan. The Karachi assault and the subsequent air strikes fit a cycle in which bombings inside Pakistan prompt cross‑border action, followed by Afghan denials of harbouring militants and claims of civilian casualties. Analysts cited by Al Jazeera suggest Islamabad may need to re‑evaluate its approach as attacks on security forces continue.