On the night of June 10, Pakistan launched targeted airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Khost, Paktika, and Kunar provinces, resulting in the deaths of 26 hardcore terrorists. As per government officials, calibrated strikes targeted the sanctuaries and hideouts of Fitna-ul Khwarij (FAK) in response to ongoing cross-border terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. The operations specifically targeted the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), outfits that Pakistan holds responsible for a recent surge in terrorist attacks across the border.

Pakistan was compelled to launch the counter-terror strikes amid a direct, deadly ambush on its security forces and a sharp surge in cross-border terrorism spread over months. On June 9, 2026, banned TTP terrorists launched a midnight siege on a security post in the Hasan Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ensuing gunfight left six Pakistani Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel martyred and several others wounded. In the immediate aftermath, Pakistani intelligence tracked the perpetrators retreating across the border into safe havens in eastern Afghanistan. Counterterror strike was not an isolated retaliation but a response to a series of coordinated cross-border terrorist attacks launched from Afghanistan targeting law enforcement and military installations in Pakistan. On 2nd June, a vehicle-borne suicide attack targeted a military post in North Waziristan, whereas on May 9, a direct terrorist assault overran a........

© Daily Times