| Lahore – Pakistan launched airstrikes on suspected terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on Friday, resulting in multiple casualties, including three Afghan domestic cricketers. The attack occurred just as a 48-hour ceasefire, brokered to pause weeks of escalating cross-border violence, was being extended to accommodate peace talks between Afghan and Pakistani delegations in Doha, Qatar. The strikes referenced in your query were conducted by Pakistan targeting terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan and followed a deadly attack on a military installation in North Waziristan, Pakistan. This incident involved a gun-and-bomb assault claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a splinter of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), at the Khaddi Fort in Mir Ali. Pakistani security forces responded by killing the attackers, but the incident resulted in at least seven Pakistani troops and four attackers dead, with over 20 others injured, including civilians. There was no official statement from Pakistan’s military regarding the early Friday attack on Khaddi Fort in Mir Ali, North Waziristan. However, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. Security sources reported that Pakistani forces foiled the attack, eliminating all four assailants without suffering any losses. Pakistan conducted precision airstrikes late Friday targeting the Angoor Adda region along with hideouts in Afghanistan’s Urgun and Barmal districts of Paktika province, aiming at the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group after a deadly attack in North Waziristan tied to the group. Pakistani security sources claimed that dozens of militants were killed in these strikes, which were retaliation for a recent suicide bombing on a Pakistani military facility. The Afghanistan Cricket Board has confirmed that three cricketers from Urgun District—Kabeer (also reported as Kabeer Agha), Sibghatullah, and Haroon—were killed in an airstrike on Paktika Province. The players were returning home to Urgun after participating in a friendly match in Sharana, the provincial capital, and were targeted during a local gathering. The incident led to the deaths of at least eight people, including the three cricketers, and left seven others injured. In response, the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced the country’s withdrawal from an upcoming tri-series in Pakistan, scheduled to be played in late November, as a gesture of respect to the victims. Meanwhile, Pakistani security sources pointed out that the ceasefire agreement between the Afghan government and Pakistan did not preclude strikes on terror outfits and their hideouts, the Dawn reported. Pakistani security sources confirmed that the recent ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and the Afghan government does not prohibit strikes against terror outfits and their hideouts. This means that, while both sides agreed to temporarily halt direct hostilities for negotiation purposes, Pakistan maintains the right to carry out targeted operations against groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and their safe havens within Afghanistan. Fresh strikes occurred as key representatives from Pakistan and Afghanistan were preparing to meet in Doha, where the Qatari government was set to facilitate mediation efforts to resolve tensions along the border. These air strikes by Pakistan targeted terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan, following a terror attack in North Waziristan attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and briefly disrupted an already fragile ceasefire between the two sides. “The ceasefire has been mutually extended by both Pakistan and Afghanistan till the end of the talks in Doha, Qatar. The talks are ready to begin [on Saturday],” a security source said on Friday at the conclusion of the initial 48-hour truce, which had been in effect since Wednesday. During the initial phase of the truce between Pakistan and Afghanistan following intense border clashes, no direct bilateral initiative for talks was launched by either side. Instead, Qatar, with the support of Saudi Arabia, played a crucial mediating role by advocating for a halt to hostilities and offering to host peace talks in Doha. This diplomatic move resulted in high-level delegations from both Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban traveling to the Qatari capital to begin discussions aimed at reducing border tensions and establishing new frameworks for stability. Recent reports from Afghanistan confirm that the Taliban delegation traveling to Doha for talks with Pakistan does include Defence Minister Mullah Yaqub Mujahid and intelligence chief Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq. A late evening meeting took place between Pakistan’s National Security Adviser and Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Asim Malik and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, which has led to speculation that Gen Malik may travel to Doha. The Foreign Office of Pakistan has declined to comment on the issue at this time. This development indicates the importance of the discussions taking place, as such high-level coordination often precedes significant diplomatic or security-related initiatives. On Friday, Afghan authorities handed over the bodies of seven Pakistani citizens, including two security personnel, who were killed in the Chaman sector of Balochistan on Tuesday. This transfer took place amidst heightened tensions and recent border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, following deadly violence along the border regions. There has been significant outrage in Pakistan after videos circulated on social media, depicting Afghan soldiers dragging and desecrating the bodies of Pakistani security personnel along the border region. The incident reportedly followed deadly clashes and a gun-and-bomb attack by militants targeting a military installation in North Waziristan, which led to multiple fatalities and further deteriorated relations between the two countries. Foreign Office spokesperson responding to reports that bodies of some Pakistani soldiers had been mutilated said: “This kind of savagery, bestiality, is condemnable, and it needs to be condemned in the strongest words possible. This is beyond the pale. It is beyond humanity, and this has deeply offended us and deeply hurt the Pakistani people.” “It is not something to be forgiven and forgotten easily,” he further said. |
Pakistan Airstrikes in Paktika Deepen Border Tensions Despite Doha Peace Efforts
