Afghan Taliban border guards and terrorists from the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) mounted unprovoked heavy weapon fire on Pakistani border posts after security forces thwarted two infiltration attempts in the night between December 27 and 28, sources said on Saturday — the day a senior Taliban leader indicated that they would continue to shelter TTP terrorists, describing them as "guests."
"A group of 20-25 'Khawarij' attempted to infiltrate Pakistan from two locations in Kurram and North Waziristan districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) bordering Afghanistan, reportedly using the border posts of Afghan Taliban," the sources said. However, Pakistani security forces thwarted the infiltration attempt, they added.
In the morning of December 28, the Khawarij - a name given to the TTP terrorists - again used the Afghan Taliban border posts to sneak into Pakistan, the sources said. In the second attempt, the Khawarij and Afghan Taliban jointly launched unprovoked heavy weapon fire on the Pakistani posts at dawn. Pakistan's security forces retaliated decisively, the sources added.
According to verified reports, the Afghan side suffered heavy losses, with initial information indicating that more than 15 Khawarij and Afghan Taliban border guards were killed and several others injured during the retaliatory action.
The Afghan Taliban were forced to abandon six posts and flee, the sources said, adding that losses on the Afghan side might have increased. On the Pakistani side, meanwhile, there were no fatalities, and only three personnel sustained minor injuries, according to the sources.
The interim Afghan government has repeatedly been asked not to allow its territory to be used by the TTP terrorists against Pakistan. Instead of controlling these groups and neutralising their fighters, the Afghan Taliban continue to shelter them, the sources said. The "Khawarij" enjoy complete freedom of movement in Afghanistan and are extensively using Afghan soil for anti-Pakistan terrorist attacks.
The Afghan Taliban have always denied the existence of TTP fighters in their country, claiming that no foreign terrorists are allowed to operate and pose a threat to other nations from the Afghan soil. However, on Friday, a senior minister in the interim Taliban government indicated that they provide refuge to anti-Pakistan terrorists.
"We must honour the Afghan nation's commitment to safeguarding these guests, friends," Khairullah Khairkhwa, the interim information minister, said while referring to the TTP in his speech aired by Taliban-controlled state television and shared via X social media platform.
According to the Voice of America, Khairkhwa made the rare admission just days after the Pakistani security forces reportedly conducted airstrikes against terrorist locations in an eastern Afghan border province.
The Taliban claimed that Tuesday's attack in Paktika resulted in the deaths of nearly 50 civilians, predominantly refugees from Pakistan. However, the claims could not be verified from independent sources.
Khairkhwa stressed the need for Pakistan "to draw lessons from the consequences of military interventions" in Afghanistan by Britain, the former Soviet Union and the United States, respectively, since the 19th century.
"Anyone who attacks Afghanistan or harbours such intentions must learn from the defeat of three superpowers," he added.
This is the first public admission by a senior Taliban leader regarding the presence of TTP operatives in the country.
Islamabad has not acknowledged the cross-border strikes, but independent sources said that several "terrorist hideouts" of the TTP were targeted in the strikes in which several key TTP commanders were also eliminated.
The TTP, which has been designated as a global terrorist organisation by the United Nations, has stepped up attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban's August 2021 return to power in Kabul. "Unfortunately, the TTP continues to operate from there and killing innocent people inside Pakistan. This cannot go on," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said during a cabinet meeting on Friday.
"They must rein in the TTP. This constitutes a red line for us. The TTP operating from Afghan soil is unacceptable under any circumstances," he said, adding that his government was ready to talk with the Afghan government to address the issue. "But there can be no progress if, on the one hand, they seek to foster relations with Pakistan while simultaneously permitting TTP to operate with impunity," he said.
Also on Friday, the Pakistani military reported that its counterterrorism operations and clashes with TTP terrorists resulted in the killings of over 900 "terrorists" this year, including 27 Afghan suicide bombers and fighters. The violence also left nearly 400 Pakistani security forces and officers martyred, said DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
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