ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has carried out airstrikes targeting suicide training centres and key hideouts of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, informed sources confirmed on Tuesday.
The strikes targeted and destroyed the operational infrastructure of the TTP terrorists, who have been responsible for various deadly attacks inside Pakistan, military sources informed.
Journalist Hassan Ayub, in a tweet, stated that three to four suicide bombing training centres and terrorist hideouts were struck in the border region of Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
بریکنگ نیوز 🚨🚨
ابتدائی اطلاعات کے مطابق پاکستان نے پکتیکا بارڈر ریجن میں فتنہ الخوارج کے خودکش مراکز اور دہشت گرد ٹھکانوں پر اسٹرائیکس کیں، جن میں 25 سے 30 دہشت گرد ہلاک ہوئے۔ ان مراکز سے ہزاروں خودکش بمبار تربیت یافتہ تھے۔ چار سرغنہ، بشمول شیر زمان عرف مخلص یار، مارے گئے۔ آج…
— Hassan Ayub Khan (@HassanAyub82) December 24, 2024
These hideouts had reportedly trained thousands of terrorists and suicide bombers for attacks against Pakistan.
The airstrikes were directed at camps in the areas of Laman, Rakhe, and Mara, according to Lal Wazir, another journalist who posted about the developments on social media platform X.
Pakistan fighter jets are carrying out heavy airstrikes against TTP and HGB position in Bermal district of Paktika different area ,raha,laman,margha. Afghanistan @DaudKhattak1
— Lal Wazir journalist in PAK -AFG (@LalWazir19) December 24, 2024
Military sources confirmed that over 60 high-value terrorists were killed in the precise operation, with further heavy losses caused to the TTP terrorists.
The targeted camps, located in Barmal, Paktika, were being used to train multiple squads for attacks inside Pakistan.
Key TTP operatives, including Sher Zaman alias Mukhlis Yar, Akhtar Muhammad alias Khalil, Izhar alias Hamza, and Shoaib Ahmed, were reportedly among the targets.
Sher Zaman, a notorious trainer of suicide bombers, and Commander Abu Hamza, known for recruiting Pakistani and Afghan children into terrorism, were reportedly running prominent terror training camps destroyed in the strikes.
The strikes come after an attack on a Pakistani security check post by TTP terrorists, resulting in the martyrdom of 16 soldiers.
According to sources, some of the attackers involved in the deadly assault had been hiding in the targeted camps in Paktika. The camps were also being used to prepare more terrorist squads for operations against Pakistan, sources added.
Military sources stated that the strikes were carefully executed to avoid collateral damage, particularly to families, mosques and religious places in the vicinity.
The operation also dismantled key propaganda and operational centres, including Shoaib Iqbal’s media centre, Omar Media, which has been instrumental in the terrorist group’s propaganda campaigns.
This centre had been used for spreading anti-Pakistan rhetoric and justifying terrorist acts against the state.
Sources in both Pakistan and Afghanistan have confirmed the operation.
The strikes underscore Pakistan’s commitment to neutralizing cross-border terrorism and ensuring the safety of its citizens.
A Shot Across the Bow
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security expert told WE News English said that Tuesday’s airstrike “represents a clear and blunt warning to Pakistani Taliban that Pakistan will use all the available means against the terrorist outfit both inside and outside its borders.”
However, it is not an indiscriminate use of force and due care was taken by Pakistan in ensuring that only the terrorist bases were hit and no civilian loss of life and property took place, the expert said.
