Pakistan Airstrikes in Afghanistan Leave 17 Dead

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Pakistani military on Sunday, February 22, 2026, carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan, targeting what it called "camps and hideouts" belonging to armed groups behind a series of recent attacks, including a deadly suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense condemned the attacks, saying they "hit a religious school and residential homes" in the border provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika, "resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries, including women and children."

Afghan sources told Al Jazeera that at least 17 people were killed in Nangarhar.

The attacks threaten a fragile ceasefire between the two South Asian neighbors, negotiated after deadly border clashes that killed dozens of soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants in October last year.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement on the social media app X that the country's military conducted "intelligence-based, selective operations" against seven camps and hideouts belonging to the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and its affiliates.

An affiliate of the Islamic State group was also targeted in the border region, it said.

The ministry said it had "conclusive evidence" that recent attacks in Islamabad, as well as in the northwestern districts of Bajaur and Bannu, were carried out by militants "on behest of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers."

The statement noted that Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan Taliban government to take action to prevent the armed group from using Afghan territory to launch attacks, but Kabul has failed to "take any substantive action."

Pakistan "has always strived to maintain peace and stability in the region," it added, but said the safety and security of Pakistani citizens remains its top priority.

The Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan came hours after a suicide bomber targeted a security convoy in Bannu district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.

On Monday, a suicide bomber, backed by gunmen, rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the wall of a security post in nearby Bajaur, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Authorities later said the attacker was an Afghan national.

On February 6, another suicide bomber detonated his explosives during midday prayers at the Khadija Tul Kubra Shia mosque in Islamabad's Tarlai Kalan area, killing at least 31 worshippers and wounding 170 others.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Islamabad attack.

While bombings are rare in the heavily fortified capital, the attack on Khadija Tul Kubra was the second in three months, raising fears of a resurgence of violence in Pakistan's major urban centers.

At the time, the Pakistani military said that the "planning, training, and indoctrination for the attack took place in Afghanistan."

In a statement on Sunday, Pakistan's Information Ministry reiterated its call to the international community to pressure the Taliban to uphold its commitments under the agreement signed with the United States in the Qatari capital, Doha, in 2020, to prevent the use of Afghan territory for attacks against other countries.

The ministry said the move was "vital for regional and global peace and security."

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Defense Ministry condemned the Pakistani attack as "a breach of international law and the principles of good neighbourliness."

They vowed retaliation.

In a statement posted on X as reported by India Today, the Taliban-run Defense Ministry said the attacks on national institutions and religious centers reflected intelligence and security failures on Pakistan's part, and vowed a "appropriate and calculated response" to Pakistan's cross-border attacks.

"We strongly condemn this blatant violation and crime against the country's national sanctuary. We consider this act a clear violation of international laws, the principles of neighbourliness, and Islamic values," the ministry said.

Pakistan has seen a surge in violence in recent years, largely blamed on the TTP and banned Baloch separatist groups. Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating from inside Afghanistan, a charge the group denies.

The Taliban government has also consistently denied harboring anti-Pakistan armed groups.

Relations between the two neighboring countries remain tense following deadly clashes in October. The fighting erupted after an explosion in Kabul, which Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan.

A Qatar-brokered ceasefire on October 19 largely held, but subsequent talks in Istanbul, Turkey, failed to produce a formal agreement.

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