Pakistan Accuses Afghanistan-Based Militants After Deadly Border District Bombing

Islamabad-Pakistan on Monday accused militants operating from Afghanistan of orchestrating a deadly assault on a police post in the northwestern district of Bannu that killed 15 security personnel, deepening tensions between the neighboring states amid renewed cross-border security disputes.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said evidence gathered through a detailed investigation and technical intelligence indicated that the attack was “masterminded by terrorists residing in Afghanistan,” following a coordinated assault on Saturday involving a car bombing and a subsequent ambush targeting responding security forces.

The attack occurred in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, an area that has witnessed repeated militant violence in recent years. Images released after the incident showed the police post reduced to rubble.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said a senior Afghan diplomat had been summoned and formally presented with a strong demarche over the attack. Islamabad warned that it would not compromise on national security if militant groups continued to find sanctuary across the border.

“The Afghan Taliban regime has also been categorically informed that, if it continues to harbor these terrorist organizations, Pakistan will not compromise on its national security or on the safety and protection of its citizens,” the ministry said.

Deputy Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat told Reuters the Afghan government had no immediate comment on Pakistan’s allegations.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban-led administration in Kabul of allowing militants to use Afghan territory to plan and launch attacks inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban denies. Afghan authorities maintain that Pakistan’s militancy problem is an internal matter.

The latest accusations threaten to further strain relations between the two neighbors after months of heightened border tensions. In February, some of the heaviest fighting in years erupted between Pakistani and Afghan forces following Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds.

Security analysts say continued militant violence along the frontier risks destabilizing already fragile relations between the two countries and complicating efforts to coordinate border security and counterterrorism operations.