After the attacks by Pakistan in Chamkani district of Afghanistan (Image source: Reuters)
Pakistani security forces launched a ground operation and airstrikes along the Afghanistan border on Monday, killing 29 people, officials said. Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar, announcing the attacks on Iraq, said three bases in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed during precision strikes targeting positions of the Pakistani Taliban and its ally Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.Kabul gave a completely different account. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attacks as a “cowardly act of aggression,” and Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat detailed the civilian casualties in a post on social media on Monday, saying, “According to reports available so far, the attacks last night resulted in the martyrdom of 36 civilians, including women and children, while 163 others were injured. “Three residential houses were completely destroyed.” Fitrat provided location-by-location details. In Mandokhail village of Chamkani district of Paktia, Pakistani jets attacked a civilian residence, killing an elderly man and a child. “Subsequently, when local residents gathered to carry out a rescue operation, the area was bombed for the second time, resulting in the martyrdom of 28 villagers and injuries to 158 others,” he said. In Walast village of Xian district, Paktika, six people were killed, most of them women and children. In the third attack in Barolo village of Manogai district of Kunar, a house was destroyed but there were no casualties.Pakistan has denied targeting civilians.
Why did the operation start?
The attacks came less than 24 hours after fighters armed with guns and explosives attacked the regional headquarters of the paramilitary force Pakistan Rangers in Karachi on Saturday night, killing three soldiers. Security forces killed three attackers and arrested a fourth, whom the military identified as a wounded Afghan civilian. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed responsibility for the attack.Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab Lil-Haq in February, saying it was aimed at eliminating cross-border militancy. But despite four months of airstrikes, ground operations and claims of territorial progress inside Afghanistan, militants have continued to carry out attacks inside Pakistan, including in Karachi.Monday’s operation was the second major Pakistani military action on the Afghan border this month. On June 10, Pakistani airstrikes took place in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban said 13 civilians were killed, 11 of whom were children. Pakistan said that 26 TTP terrorists have been killed.On 19 June, Afghanistan began its attacks inside Pakistan, targeting what Kabul described as ISIS-K camps and “hostile intelligence circles”.
ground campaign
Operation Ghazab Lil-Haq has involved sustained airstrikes, artillery exchanges, drone operations and ground incursions into eastern and southern Afghanistan since its launch on February 26. Pakistani officials say their forces have killed more than 800 militants, destroyed more than 280 border posts and attacked more than 80 locations across Afghanistan. Kabul disputes the claims, which have not been independently verified.This campaign has been carried out on three broad fronts.In the north, Pakistani troops have engaged Taliban forces in Nuristan and Kunar, with prolonged firefights closing the roads to Kamdesh and Bargi Matal for nearly two months. According to the United Nations, the closure left approximately 100,000 residents without food and medical supplies.In the east, Pakistani forces have attacked Taliban corps and brigade headquarters, ammunition depots and border posts in Nangarhar, Khost and Paktia. Satellite imagery reviewed by The New York Times and BBC News confirmed attacks on ammunition depots in Kabul and Kandahar. Pakistani aircraft also attacked Bagram Airfield on 1 March, destroying a hangar and two warehouses.In the south, the BBC reported in late March that Pakistan had fenced in about 32 square kilometers of Afghan territory in Paktika, with the fence line extending more than 12 kilometers inside the border. Afghan officials denied any capture. Pakistan said that the situation was strategic.The Taliban launched their counter-military campaign on February 26 under the direction of Defense Minister Mullah Yacob, targeting Pakistani border posts in six provinces. Since then it has regularly carried out cross-border drone strikes on Pakistani garrison cities including Islamabad, Kohat and Quetta. Most were intercepted, but the attacks were so serious that a nationwide Pakistani drone flight ban was imposed.
ceasefire talks
Several attempts at a ceasefire have failed.A five-day Eid al-Fitr ceasefire brokered by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey was held briefly in March before being resumed. China hosted talks in Urumqi in April, but the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister said the discussions ended without an agreement and blamed Pakistani officials. An informal round took place in Termez, brokered by Uzbekistan, in early June.Pakistan’s three demands remain unchanged: Afghanistan should formally designate the TTP as a terrorist organization, destroy its infrastructure and provide verifiable evidence of action. Kabul has refused.Pakistani officials say that the action will continue until the conditions are met. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said in May that the operation would continue “with full determination”.
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