Pakistan says it conducted a ground operation and border strikes in Afghanistan, killing 29 militants

Pakistan’s military said it carried out a ground operation and air and strikes along the Afghanistan border, killing 29 militants in what it described as action against armed groups operating in the border area, according to a report published June 28, 2026. The statement placed the operation within a wider pattern of retaliatory military activity between Pakistan and Afghanistan that has intensified since February.

The Pakistani account characterized the operation as targeted action connected to militant groups and cross-border attacks, while Afghanistan has repeatedly disputed or responded to Pakistani claims in earlier rounds of fighting. The PBS NewsHour report said the new Pakistani strike package was part of a continued escalation rather than an isolated incident.

The border violence has been building for months, with hundreds of people killed in cross-border fighting since February. PBS NewsHour said the cycle began in February, when Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory. Since then, both countries have conducted repeated operations, each framing its actions as responses to attacks and attacks against national security interests.

Under this pattern, Pakistan’s latest statement offered a narrative that its operations were directed at militants and aimed at restoring security along the frontier. For Afghanistan, the central issue remains sovereignty and the legitimacy of cross-border operations, with earlier Afghan retaliatory strikes tied directly to Pakistan’s earlier airstrikes inside Afghanistan.

The renewed fighting also carries immediate public safety risks for border communities, where the movement of armed groups and military strikes can disrupt daily life and increase the risk of civilian harm. The PBS report did not provide a breakdown of casualties beyond Pakistan’s figure of 29 militants killed, and it did not detail the number of civilians affected during the latest operation.

Diplomatically, repeated rounds of cross-border escalation have raised pressure on both governments to manage military conflict without widening it further. As of late June 2026, the next steps remained unclear, with Pakistan presenting its operation as necessary security enforcement while Afghanistan’s response was not detailed in the PBS report beyond the broader context of months of tit-for-tat strikes.