ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces killed more than 70 militants linked to the proscribed Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction during overnight precision strikes in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan, security sources said on Saturday.
The strikes, carried out late on Friday, targeted what sources described as “verified militant hideouts” across the border. “Over 70 terrorists belonging to the Khwaraji Gul Bahadur group, including several key commanders, were eliminated.”
Those killed included “11 key ringleaders,” among them commanders identified as Firman alias Al-Karama, Siddiqullah Dawar, Ghazi Madakhel, Muqarib, Qismatullah, Gulab alias Diwana, Rahmani, Adil, and Fazlur Rehman, the latter described by officials as a close relative of Hafiz Gul Bahadur.
“This is a major operational success that has significantly degraded the group’s command and control structure,” the sources said.
The Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction, active in Pakistan’s northwestern border regions, has been blamed for several deadly attacks in recent months, including a vehicle-borne suicide attack in North Waziristan that killed one soldier and several civilians, and an assault in Bannu Cantonment that left eight soldiers martyred.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed the operations in a statement posted on social media earlier in the day, saying Pakistan’s security forces had “neutralized more than 100 terrorists” in retaliatory actions along the Pak-Afghan border over the past 48 hours.
“The precision strikes targeted verified camps of the Gul Bahadur group, known locally as ‘Kharjis,’” Tarar said. “More than 100 Kharjis were sent to hell.”
He dismissed online claims that civilians were targeted as “false propaganda aimed at garnering sympathy for terrorist groups.”
Tarar added that Pakistan “reserves the right to act in self-defense” but “continues to seek diplomatic engagement with Afghan authorities” to curb cross-border terrorism.
Security analysts note that Gul Bahadur recently announced the formation of Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), an umbrella alliance that includes Lashkar-e-Islam and Harkat-e-Inqilab-e-Islami Pakistan, seen as one of the most potent new militant networks in the region.
Sources say the latest strikes have dealt “a serious blow” to the IMP’s ability to conduct cross-border infiltration and vehicle-borne attacks, but caution that splinter groups often re-emerge under new leadership.
The strikes come amid growing tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over the presence of militant sanctuaries inside Afghanistan and a surge in cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani troops and civilians.
