Peshawar, Pakistan:
In rare airstrikes, Pakistan on Tuesday targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighbouring Afghanistan, resulting in the death of at least 15 people, including women and children. The strikes were carried out in a mountainous area in Paktika province bordering Pakistan, where the local authorities said the number of deaths is expected to rise.
The strike also dismantled a training facility and killed some insurgents, Pakistani security officials told the Associated Press (AP) on the condition of anonymity.
It was reportedly the second such Pakistani attack on alleged hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), since March in the border regions inside Afghanistan. Islamabad often claims that the TTP use Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan, a charge Kabul has denied.
About Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was formed in 2007 as an umbrella organisation of various hardline Sunni Islamist groups operating individually in Pakistan, following Pakistan military operations against Al-Qaida-related terrorists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)– a semi-autonomous region in the northwest region of the country that was made up of seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions.
Formed under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud, who has since died, TTP is rooted along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. Some estimates suggest TTP has between 30,000 and 35,000 members.
According to the United Nations, its stated objective is the overthrow of the elected government of Pakistan to establish an emirate based on its interpretation of Islamic law. To that end, TTP has worked to destabilize Pakistan by directly attacking the Pakistani army and assassinating politicians. Its attacks, which have included multiple suicide bombings, have killed hundreds of members of the Pakistan defence forces, law enforcement personnel and civilians.
The terrorist group is responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan, including on churches, schools and the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, who survived the 2012 attack after she was targeted for her campaign against the Taliban’s efforts to deny women education.
After the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, it emboldened the TTP, whose leaders and fighters are hiding in Afghanistan. The terrorist organisation has stepped up attacks on Pakistani soldiers and police since November 2022, when it unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the government after the failure of months of talks hosted by Afghanistan’s government in Kabul. The TTP in recent months has killed and wounded dozens of soldiers in attacks inside the country.
Kabul’s Reaction
In Kabul, the Afghan Defense Ministry condemned the Pakistani airstrikes, saying the bombing targeted civilians, including women and children. It said that most of the victims were refugees from the Waziristan region.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers this a brutal act against all international principles and blatant aggression and strongly condemns it,” the ministry said.
In a post on the X platform, the Afghan defence ministry said the Pakistani side should know that such unilateral measures are not a solution to any problem. “The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered but rather considers the defence of its territory and territory to be its inalienable right,” it said.
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security expert told AP that Tuesday’s airstrike “represents a clear and blunt warning to Pakistani Taliban that Pakistan will use all the available means against the terrorist outfit both inside and outside its borders.”
“However, it is not an indiscriminate use of force and due care was taken by Pakistan in ensuring that only the terrorist bases were hit and no civilian loss of life and property took place,” he said.
Timing Of The Attack
The strikes came hours after Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, travelled to Kabul to discuss a range of issues, including how to enhance bilateral trade and improve ties.
During the visit, Mr Sadiq met with Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan’s acting interior minister, to offer his condolences over the December 11 killing of his uncle Khalil Haqqani.
Khalil Haqqani was the minister for refugees and repatriation who died in a suicide bombing that was claimed by a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group.
In a post on X, the Pakistani Minister said he also met with Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and he “held wide-ranging discussions. Agreed to work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as for peace and progress in the region.”
