KARACHI, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Pakistan said it launched strikes on militant targets in Afghanistan after blaming recent suicide bombings – including assaults during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – on fighters it said were operating from its neighbour’s territory.
Women and children were among the dozens killed and injured in Saturday’s attacks, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said, in remarks Reuters could not verify. Its defence ministry vowed to respond.
The strikes mark a sharp escalation in tensions just days after Kabul released three Pakistani soldiers in a Saudi-mediated effort to calm relations following months of clashes along the rugged frontier.
Pakistan’s information ministry on Sunday said the strikes involved “intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts” along the Afghan border belonging to the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State Khorasan Province.
It added that it had “conclusive evidence” that earlier attacks on Pakistani soil were carried out by Khwarij – its term for the Pakistani Taliban – acting on instructions from “their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.”
Kabul has repeatedly denied allowing militants to use Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan.
AFGHANISTAN VOWS TO RESPOND
Afghanistan’s defence ministry condemned what it called a blatant violation of sovereignty and a breach of international law, warning that “an appropriate and measured response will be taken at a suitable time.”
The foreign ministry said it had summoned Pakistan’s ambassador over what it described as violations of Afghan airspace and the bombing of civilians, calling the strikes “a provocative act.”
A Taliban spokesperson said the attacks had killed and injured dozens of people, including women and children, but Reuters was unable to independently verify the remarks.
Among the attacks Pakistan cited as being orchestrated from Afghanistan were a mosque bombing in Islamabad and violence in the northwestern border districts of Bajaur and Bannu.
On Saturday, the Pakistani military said a suicide bomber in these districts targeted a convoy of security forces. Five militants died in a gun battle and two soldiers were killed when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into a military vehicle.
Tension has forced repeated closures of border crossings, disrupting trade and activity along the 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier.
Clashes in October killed dozens before a fragile ceasefire was agreed, but Pakistan continues to accuse Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of harbouring militants who stage attacks inside its territory – a claim Kabul denies.
(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar, Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Yunus Yawar and Sayed Hassib in Kabul; Writing by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Clarence Fernandez and Ros Russell)
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