KARACHI, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Pakistan said it carried out cross-border strikes on militant targets inside Afghanistan after blaming a series of recent suicide bombings – including attacks during the holy month of Ramadan – on fighters it said were operating from Afghan territory.
The strikes mark a sharp escalation in tensions between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, days after Kabul released three Pakistani soldiers in a Saudi-mediated move aimed at easing tensions following months of border clashes along the rugged frontier.
In a statement dated February 21 that was released early on Sunday, the ministry said it had “conclusive evidence” the attacks were carried out by what it calls Khwarij, its term for the Pakistani Taliban, acting on instructions from “their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.”
It said Pakistan carried out “intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts” belonging to the Pakistani Taliban as well as Islamic State Khorasan Province along the border with Afghanistan.
Reuters could not immediately reach Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities for comment. Kabul has repeatedly denied allowing militants to use Afghan territory to stage attacks inside Pakistan.
The government said recent attacks included a bombing at a Shi’ite mosque in Islamabad and violence in the northwestern border districts of Bajaur and Bannu, where the military on Saturday said a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of security forces, killing five militants in a gun battle and two soldiers when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into a military vehicle.
Tensions have repeatedly forced key border crossings to shut, disrupting trade and movement along the 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier.
Dozens were killed in clashes in October before the two sides agreed to a fragile ceasefire, 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 and Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
