Pakistan says its forces have killed 29 terrorists on the border with Afghanistan Articles of Controversy

The violence comes a day after militants armed with guns and explosives killed three soldiers in Karachi.

Pakistan’s security forces have carried out ground operations and airstrikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in response to attacks that have killed 29 people, officials said.

In a social media post, Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operation was launched in response to a series of militant attacks across the country.

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“Three targets in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar were destroyed in precision strikes,” said Tarar on X, referring to the three eastern provinces of Afghanistan.

There is no immediate response from Afghanistan.

In recent years, Pakistan has seen threats against the police and security forces.

Officials have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the TTP, and allied militias for many of the attacks.

This comes a day after militants armed with guns and explosives targeted the headquarters of the Rangers in the southern city of Karachi, killing three soldiers.

Security forces killed three terrorists and arrested another terrorist, whom the security forces identified as an Afghan citizen who was injured.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a separatist group of the Pakistan Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack in Karachi in a statement on Saturday night.

Tarar said that Pakistan’s latest operation along the Afghan border is targeting hideouts and safe havens for the Pakistan Taliban.

The Pakistan Taliban is a separate military group from the Afghan Taliban, although the two are allied.

The Afghan Taliban returned to Afghanistan in 2021.

The recent activities are likely to strain relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

Sunday’s cross-border strikes and ground operations came less than three weeks after the Pakistani military launched airstrikes on what it said were safe havens in Afghanistan.

They ended nearly a month of relative calm following what Islamabad described as “open war” between the neighboring countries, despite international efforts to establish a lasting peace.

The development follows months of tit-for-tat war between the countries.

Hundreds of people have been killed in cross-border fighting since February, when Afghanistan launched a retaliatory attack after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghan territory.

Several international peace talks have failed to end the war.

China retaliated against the two sides in April, and Beijing later said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed not to escalate their conflict and seek a solution.

Since last year, Pakistan has carried out a series of operations along the border and inside Afghanistan, targeting the hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups.

Pakistan blames the Taliban government in Afghanistan for harboring deadly terrorists inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistan Taliban.

Kabul denies the allegations.