Pakistan kills 26 terrorists in precise strikes along Afghan border: Minister

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that Pakistan carried out "precise and calibrated strikes” along the Afghanistan border, killing at least 26 militants linked to recent attacks on security forces and law enforcement installations in the country.

In a statement posted on X, the minister said that the strikes were conducted in the aftermath of multiple attacks, including the terrorist attack on a Federal Constabulary (FC) post in Musa Dara on June 9, 2026, vehicle-borne suicide attacks on a military post in North Waziristan on June 2, 2026, and an attack on a police station in Bannu on May 9, 2026.

The strikes come a day after six FC personnel were killed and as many others were wounded when terrorists attacked a security post in Hassan Khel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The militants had launched the attack at midnight, triggering a fierce exchange of gunfire.

Six FC soldiers were killed when a number of terrorists attacked a post in a remote area in Hassan Khel.

Tarar said the operations targeted hideouts and safe havens of masterminds and planners belonging to "Fitna Al Khwarij," (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)), resulting in the killing of 26 Indian-sponsored terrorists according to the statement.

He said credible intelligence led to the selective targeting of camps and hideouts with precision and accuracy, adding that four targets were completely destroyed during the operations.

These included a training centre, a hideout, an ammunition cache, and multiple "marakiz” linked to Fitna Al Khwarij commanders Aleem Khan Khushali and Akhtar Muhammad Jani Khel.

The minister said Pakistan has always strived for peace and stability in the region, but reiterated that the safety and security of citizens remains the country’s top priority.

He added that Pakistan’s ongoing counter-terrorism campaign under the vision "Azm-e-Istehkam,” approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, will continue at full pace to eliminate foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.

Afghan men carry the coffin of a Pakistani airstrike victim during a funeral ceremony at Mani village in Spera district. AFP

Later during the day, the Afghan ‌Taliban government said that Pakistani air strikes on three Afghan provinces killed at least 13 people, including 11 children.

At ⁠least 14 others — all of them children and women — ‌were injured in strikes that violated ‌Afghanistan's airspace and bombed civilian homes in the provinces of Kunar, Khost and Paktika, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Pakistan's Information Ministry dismissed Afghanistan's reports of civilian casualties.

In a post on X, it said that "Afghan Taliban accounts are peddling propaganda claiming Pakistan bombed civilian homes and caused civilian casualties."

Wednesday's strikes came a day after suspected Pakistani Taliban militants attacked a security post in Pakistan's Hasan Khel area of  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, triggering an intense gunfight in which six members of the Federal Constabulary (FC) were killed and several others wounded, according to Pakistan's Interior Ministry.

Local authorities in Pakistan said that security forces killed eight of the attackers and thwarted an attempt to overrun the checkpoint.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi later attended funeral prayers for the dead personnel in Peshawar, the ministry said.

Though the situation along the border was calm hours after the strikes, Kabul has previously responded to Pakistani strikes by targeting Pakistani posts along the frontier.