ISLAMABAD: Pakistan carried out targeted strikes on seven terrorist camps near the Afghanistan border following recent suicide attacks, including one at an Imambargah in Islamabad and others in Bajaur and Bannu. Pakistan has targeted seven terrorist camps and hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban group (Fitna al Khwarij) and its allies, as well as the Islamic State-Khorasan Province, along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a post on X early Sunday. READ ALSO: Lieutenant colonel among two martyred in Bannu terror attack; five terrorists killed The action was taken, “in the aftermath of recent suicide bombing incidents in Pakistan, including Imam Bargah at Islamabad, one each in Bajaur and Bannu, followed by another incident today in Bannu during the holy month of Ramazan,” the information ministry’s statement said. According to sources, Pakistan conducted a large intelligence-based aerial operation in eastern Afghanistan targeting seven key hideouts, killing several terrorists, including Taliban commander Akhtar Muhammad. The said, jet aircraft struck terrorist shelters in Bermal district of Paktika, where loud explosions were heard across the area. Facilities used by terrorists were reported heavily damaged. “Pakistan has conclusive evidence that these acts of terrorism were perpetrated by Khwarij on behest of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers. Responsibilities for these attacks were also claimed by Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban belonging to Fitna al Khwarij (FAK) and their affiliates, and Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP),” the statement said. The statement asserted that “Pakistan has always strived for maintaining peace and stability in the region, but at the same time, the safety and security of our citizens remains our top priority”, adding that the action against the seven camps and hideouts was “a retributive response”, carried out based on “intelligence-based selective targeting”. “Despite repeated efforts by Pakistan to urge the Afghan Taliban Regime to take verifiable measures to deny use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups and foreign proxies to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban Regime failed to undertake any substantive action against them,” the statement noted. “Pakistan expects and reiterates that the Interim Afghan Government…fulfil its obligations and prevent Khwarij and other terrorists from using its soil against Pakistan as the safety and security of its people comes first and foremost.” Pakistan also expects the international community to play a positive and constructive role by urging the Taliban regime to honour its commitments under the Doha Agreement to stop its soil from being used against other countries, a step crucial for regional and global peace and security, the statement said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, in a post on X, stated that the strikes by the “Pakistan Air Force were retribution for the innocent lives lost to terrorism”. He maintained that the strikes were an “answer to the tears of every mother who has sacrificed her son for the homeland”. The Minister issued a stern warning, stating that while “Pakistan desired peace, it would not make compromises on its safety, land, and people”. “Whoever looks at us with evil intent, we will destroy them, and no one will be spared,” he said. AFP ADDS: A security source told AFP on Sunday that airstrikes on neighbouring Afghanistan killed “more than 80” militants. The source told AFP that the death toll was expected to rise following the overnight strikes, which Islamabad said were targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan. AFP journalists in Afghanistan were not able to verify the toll. The Taliban government has previously denied harbouring militants. The overnight attacks were the most extensive since border clashes in October killed more than 70 people on both sides and wounded hundreds. Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups “in the aftermath of recent suicide bombing incidents in Pakistan”. The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Islamic State group, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said. Afghanistan’s defence ministry said “dozens of innocent civilians, including women and children, were martyred and wounded” when strikes hit a madrasa and homes in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces. An AFP journalist in Nangarhar’s Bihsud district said residents from around the remote and mountainous area joined rescuers in one village, using a digger and shovels to search for bodies under the rubble. “People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” said neighbour Amin Gul Amin, 37. Nangarhar police told AFP the bombardment started at around midnight and hit three districts. “Civilians were killed. In one house, there were 23 family members. Five wounded people were taken out,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad. Afghanistan’s defence ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes. Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement. The deteriorating relationship has hit people in both countries, with the land border largely shut for months. Pakistan said Sunday that despite repeated urging by Islamabad, the Taliban authorities have failed to act against militant groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan government has denied harbouring militants. Islamabad launched the strikes after a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other such attacks more recently in northwestern Pakistan. The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026