Reporting snapshot · 22 Feb 2026. Pakistan's target and casualty figures are government claims; Afghanistan disputes them and reports civilian deaths. Neither side's account has been independently verified.
What happened
Pakistan said it carried out intelligence-based strikes against seven “terrorist camps and hideouts” inside Afghanistan in the early hours of Sunday 22 February 2026, in what the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting called a “retributive response” to a wave of suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The ministry said the targets belonged to the Pakistani Taliban, which the state calls Fitna al Khawarij (FAK), its affiliates and the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), and that they were hit “with precision and accuracy” at the border region. It said the strikes followed attacks including the 6 February bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad, an assault in Bajaur and two in Bannu, the second of which killed a lieutenant colonel and a sepoy on 21 February 2026. Pakistan said it had “conclusive evidence” that the attacks were directed by “Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers”.
Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry told Geo News that at least 70 militants had been killed; state-run media later reported the figure as 80. Security sources cited by Dawn said the overnight strikes destroyed seven FAK centres across Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost and claimed “more than 80” militants killed. No independent confirmation of the militant toll was available.
The Afghan response
Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry said Pakistani aircraft struck “various civilian areas” in Nangarhar and Paktika, including a religious school and several homes, killing and wounding dozens of people including women and children. It called the strikes a “clear violation” of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and international law and warned that an “appropriate and calculated response” would follow. The Afghan Red Crescent’s provincial director, Mawlawi Fazl Rahman Fayyaz, put the death toll at 18, and Nangarhar police said 18 members of one family were killed in the Bihsud district.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul and handed him a formal protest note, calling the strikes a violation of Afghan airspace. Pakistani officials rejected the Taliban’s account as a “false and malicious narrative”, saying militants routinely shelter among civilians and that operations were a “limited, proportionate response” to terrorism.
Why it matters
The raids sharply raised the risk to the fragile, Qatar-mediated ceasefire that followed the October 2025 border clashes, and they marked Islamabad’s most open assertion yet that Kabul has failed to honour the Doha Agreement commitment to deny its soil to militants. The strikes came days after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned that Pakistan would not hesitate to hit targets inside Afghanistan if cross-border attacks continued, and after a Saudi-mediated release of three captured Pakistani soldiers had briefly raised hopes of de-escalation.
President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan’s actions were “rooted in its inherent right to defend its people against terrorism” and followed warnings that “went unheeded”. The 21 February Bannu suicide attack, which killed a lieutenant colonel and a sepoy, is covered in KhabarWire’s report on that operation.
What is still uncertain
The two sides’ accounts diverge on almost every material point: how many people were killed, whether the targets were militant camps or civilian homes, and what evidence supports Pakistan’s claim of Afghan-based direction. Afghanistan has promised a response without specifying its timing or form, and it is not clear whether the strikes mark a one-off reprisal or the start of a sustained campaign. The status of the October ceasefire, and whether Qatar, Turkey or Saudi Arabia can restart mediation, remains unresolved.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 22 February 2026.
- The News International — "Pakistan hits seven terrorist hideouts, targeting TTP, Daesh militants along Afghan border"Published 22 Feb 2026 · Ministry of Information statement, the seven targeted camps, the cited suicide bombings in Islamabad, Bajaur and Bannu, the "Doha Agreement" framing and Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry's comments.
- Geo News — "Pakistan carries out precision strikes on seven militant hideouts along Afghan border"Published 22 Feb 2026 · The locations reported hit in Paktika and Nangarhar, the earlier Bannu IBO and the strikes' stated link to the 17 February Bajaur attack.
- Dawn — "Over 80 terrorists killed as armed forces strike 7 camps along Pakistan-Afghanistan border"Published 22 Feb 2026 · Security sources' claim of more than 80 killed, the named centres in Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost, the Taliban's protest and the summoning of Pakistan's ambassador.
