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In the early hours of Monday, Pakistan’s Air Force launched deadly air strikes in the Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing at least 30 people, including women and children, in what the military said was an anti-terror operation.
At around 2 am, eight Chinese-made LS-6 laser-guided bombs were dropped from JF-17 fighter jets, also manufactured in China. The air strikes targeted what officials claimed was a bomb-making facility linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned terror group operating in the region.
Civilian Deaths Spark Outrage
The attack has triggered widespread anger and grief across the province. Local communities, already on edge from rising militant activity, condemned the loss of civilian lives. Many questioned the quality of intelligence used to justify such strikes in densely populated areas.
Just last week, thousands had gathered in Mingora, Swat Valley, demanding peace and protection from rising violence. Now, Monday’s incident has further fuelled public frustration.
Pakistan’s main opposition party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), slammed the government. Its Khyber chapter posted on X: “No words can encompass this sorrow and grief… drone (attacks) and bombings have sown so many seeds of hatred… nothing will be left.”
Who Was Targeted?
Police told the Associated Press that two TTP commanders, Aman Gul and Masood Khan, had set up bomb-making workshops in the village. Civilians, they claimed, were being used as ‘human shields’ to mask their presence. Intelligence reportedly indicated that completed crude bombs were being stored in nearby mosques.
The strike came shortly after a TTP ambush in South Waziristan, in which 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and four were injured. The group claimed responsibility online. In response, the government intensified counter-terror operations, with the military stating that terrorists had been using civilian areas as cover.
Criticism Over Military Action
Despite the military’s explanation, human rights groups and political observers have voiced serious concerns. Amnesty International’s South Asia office criticised what it called an “alarming disregard for civilian life”, a sentiment echoed after a similar drone strike in June killed a child.
In March, 10 civilians, including women and children, died in another anti-terror operation in the Katlang area. Authorities at the time said the region was being used as a transit point for militants.
Critics argue that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has failed to ensure the safety of civilians and is increasingly reliant on heavy-handed military tactics to suppress militancy, often with tragic consequences.
The Afghanistan Factor
Tensions with Afghanistan continue to complicate the security situation. Pakistan accuses the Taliban-led Kabul government of sheltering TTP militants and allowing cross-border attacks. Media reports have linked Monday’s target to a facility allegedly run by TTP operatives with links to the Afghan regime.
Afghanistan has rejected these accusations. In April, the Taliban-affiliated Bakhtar News Agency quoted deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat saying, “Pakistan’s security problems are its internal matter… Blaming Afghanistan is a way for Islamabad to avoid accountability for its own shortcomings.”
Bigger Picture In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, or KP, is one of Pakistan’s four provinces. Located in the country’s northwest, it shares a long and rugged border with Afghanistan. The province’s mountainous terrain and remote valleys have long served as safe havens for militant groups.
The region has a troubled history. During the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies supported US-funded resistance fighters. Many of those fighters later regrouped into various extremist factions, which continue to operate in KP.
After the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021, the TTP re-emerged with renewed strength, exploiting cross-border routes, many dating back to the Soviet era, to launch attacks inside Pakistan.
A Brewing Crisis
Adding to Islamabad’s challenges are the increasing activities of other banned outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen, which have begun establishing new bases in KP. Intelligence sources suggest these groups moved deeper into the province following India’s Operation Sindoor, a retaliatory strike after a terror attack in Pahalgam.
That operation reportedly destroyed nine militant camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, raising further tensions in the region.
Some observers have accused Pakistan of exaggerating or manufacturing attacks on its own soil to deflect international pressure after Pahalgam and to draw attention away from failures in internal security.
Pakistan’s latest air strike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, carried out with Chinese fighter jets and precision-guided bombs, may have targeted militants. But the deaths of 30 civilians, many of them women and children, have once again raised difficult questions about the government’s counter-terror strategy.
As demands for accountability grow louder, Pakistan faces increasing pressure to find a more balanced and humane approach to tackling terrorism in a region that has seen far too much bloodshed.
(With input agencies)