Pakistan strikes TTP hideouts in cross-border operation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military in cross-border airstrikes targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday night, official sources confirmed.

As per reports, citing security officials, the strikes were carried out at a training facility of a banned outfit in Afghanistan’s Paktika province bordering Pakistan, killing some insurgents and wounding several others.

Sources said that TTP camps in the Murgha and Laman areas of the Barmal district were targeted, where thousands of suicide bombers were trained. Ringleaders Sher Zaman alias Mukhlis Yar, Commander Abu Hamza, Commander Akhtar Muhammad alias Khalil, and the head of TTP’s media arm, Umar Media were killed.

In a statement shared on the social media site X, the Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed reports of the airstrikes in Paktika province late on Tuesday and condemned the action.

The ministry said in a statement that civilians, including Waziristan refugees, were targeted, resulting in the death and injury of many innocent people.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers this barbaric act to be against all international principles and open aggression and strongly condemns it,” read the ministry statement.

The development came hours after Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi in Kabul to discuss enhancing bilateral cooperation.

That meeting followed close on the heels of a meeting between Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul Obaid Nizamani and Taliban Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob.

“Met Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi today. Held wide-ranging discussions. Agreed to work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as for peace and progress in the region,” Sadiq said in a post on X.