War

Four civilians were killed and a five-year-old child was seriously injured after mortar fire from across the border struck a village in Bajaur district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Sunday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.In a statement posted on X, he said the attack took place at around 3pm when Afghan Taliban forces fired artillery and mortar shells into the civilian area from across the border.Tarar said Pakistani forces had responded to the attack. “A befitting and aggressive response is being given to the Afghan Taliban regime positions and infrastructure responsible for this dastardly act,” he added.The minister said the four victims — Sajid, Ayaz, Riaz and Muaz — were brothers. He added that residents of the area strongly condemned the attack and expressed anger over the targeting of civilians.“This cowardly and heinous deliberate targeting of civilians by Afghan Taliban regime in cohorts with terrorists organisation Fitna-al-Khawarij is not only a grevious violation of international law and basic human values but also reflective of their deep frustration and desperation while facing heavy setbacks on multiple fronts by the Armed Forces of Pakistan through targeted attacks on terrorists and support infrastructures as part of operation Ghazab Lil Haq,” he said.Earlier in the day while sharing details of Operation Ghazab-Lil-Haq, Tarar said the armed forces had conducted overnight strikes targeting terrorist hideouts in Kandahar and the Chitral sector, destroying a tunnel, technical infrastructure, and equipment storage facilities used by the Afghan Taliban and Fitna-al-Khawarij.Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched last month following renewed clashes along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, after Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation by Pakistan.The neighbouring countries have been engaged in escalating hostilities along the frontier since then. The clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to earlier Pakistani air strikes targeting terrorist positions.