Pakistan claims to have killed at least 70 militants in strikes along
the Afghan border
[February 23, 2026]
By MUNIR AHMED and ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Pakistan’s military killed at least 70
militants in strikes along the border with Afghanistan early Sunday,
targeting what it described as hideouts of Pakistani militants it blamed
for recent attacks inside the country, the deputy interior minister
said. Kabul rejected the claim.
Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, offered no evidence
for his claim in an interview with Geo News that at least 70 militants
were killed in the strikes. Pakistan’s state-run media later reported
that militant fatalities jumped to 80.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement that “various civilian
areas” in the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in eastern Afghanistan
were hit, including a religious madrassa and multiple homes. The
statement called the strikes a violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and
sovereignty.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on X the attacks
“killed and wounded dozens, including women and children.” He said
Pakistan’s claim of killing 70 militants was “inaccurate.”
Mawlawi Fazl Rahman Fayyaz, the provincial director of the Afghan Red
Crescent Society in Nangarhar province, said 18 people were killed and
several others wounded.
Pakistan's president renews warning
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said late Sunday Islamabad’s
recent strikes along the Afghan border were “rooted in (Pakistan’s)
inherent right to defend its people against terrorism," after repeated
warnings to Kabul went unheeded.
Earlier this month, Zardari warned that the Taliban-led government has
created conditions “similar to or worse than” those before the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks.
In a statement, he said Pakistan had “exercised restraint” by striking
only border hideouts but warned that those responsible for attacks
inside Pakistan “will not remain beyond reach,” stressing that
protecting Pakistani citizens is “paramount and non-negotiable.”
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s ambassador
to Kabul to protest the Pakistani strikes. In a statement, the ministry
said protecting Afghanistan’s territory is the Islamic Emirate’s “Sharia
responsibility” and warned that Pakistan would be responsible for the
consequences of such attacks.
On Sunday, villagers cleared rubble in Nangarhar following airstrikes,
while mourners prepared for funerals of those killed. Habib Ullah, a
local tribal elder, said those killed in the strikes were not militants.
“They were poor people who suffered greatly. Those killed were neither
(the) Taliban, nor military personnel, nor members of the former
government. They lived simple village lives,” he told The Associated
Press.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote on X that the
military conducted “intelligence-based, selective operations” against
seven camps belonging to the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and its
affiliates. He said an affiliate of the Islamic State group was also
targeted.
Tarar said Pakistan “has always strived to maintain peace and stability
in the region,” but added that the safety and security of Pakistani
citizens remained a top priority.
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A man inspects a damaged car at the site of a cross-border Pakistani
army strike in the Behsud district of Nangarhar province,
Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Hedayat Shah)
Pakistan blames Afghans for suicide bombings
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan in recent years, much of it
blamed on the TTP and outlawed Baloch separatist groups. The TTP is
separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban.
Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating from inside Afghanistan, a
charge both the group and Kabul deny.
Hours before the Pakistani strikes, a suicide bomber targeted a
security convoy in the border district of Bannu in Pakistan’s
northwest, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.
Pakistan’s military warned after the attack that it would not
“exercise any restraint” and that operations against those
responsible would press on.
Another suicide bomber, backed by gunmen, rammed an explosives-laden
vehicle last week into the wall of a security post in Bajaur
district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders
Afghanistan, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Pakistani authorities
later said the attacker was an Afghan national.
Tarar said Pakistan had “conclusive evidence” that the recent
attacks, including a suicide bombing that targeted a Shiite mosque
in Islamabad and killed 31 worshippers earlier this month, were
carried out by militants acting on the “behest of their
Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.”
He said Pakistan had repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers
to take verifiable steps to prevent militant groups from using
Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan, but alleged that no
substantive action had been taken. Tarar also asked the
international community to press Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities
to uphold their commitments under the Doha agreement not to allow
their soil to be used against other countries.
In Islamabad, security analyst Abdullah Khan said the Pakistani
strikes suggest that Qatari, Turkish and even Saudi-led mediations
have failed to resolve tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“These strikes are likely to further escalate the situation,” he
said.
The Qatari-mediated ceasefire between the two countries came about
after deadly border clashes in October, killing dozens of soldiers,
civilians and suspected militants. The violence followed explosions
in Kabul that Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad, at the
time, conducted strikes deep inside Afghanistan to target militant
hideouts.
The truce between Islamabad and Kabul has largely held, but several
rounds of talks in Istanbul in November failed to produce a formal
agreement, and relations remain strained.
____
Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan
and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera
Ismail Khan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
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