On December 24, Pakistani forces launched air strikes in Paktika, the eastern province of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan’s tribal district of South Waziristan. Pakistan’s security officials claimed that the bombed locations were camps belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), alleging that these airstrikes killed and wounded several suspected terrorists. Pakistani officials added that the TTP camps in the areas of Barmal district were targeted, which included the camp used by the head of the TTP’s media wing, Umar Media, Sher Zaman alias Mukhlis Yar, Commander Akhtar Muhammad, and Commander Abu Hamza.

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s spokesman, said that Pakistan carried out strikes in four areas of Paktika’s Barmal District. According to Mujahid, “The total number of dead is 46, most of whom were children and women.” He added that six more people, mostly children, were injured in these strikes.

This was not the first time in 2024 that Pakistan carried out strikes inside Afghanistan, claiming to be targeting TTP hideouts. Last year in March, Pakistani forces carried out air raids inside Afghanistan, but Afghan officials claimed that eight people were killed including five women and three children. However, there was no retaliation after the March strikes, unlike these latest bombings, which provoked an attack from the de facto Taliban government in Afghanistan.

After the strikes, the Taliban regime warned that they would hit back. Taliban’s Defense Ministry said that its forces targeted several points inside Pakistan on December 28. The Defense Ministry statement did not........

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