ISLAMABAD (AP) 鈥� Pakistan鈥檚 military on Friday that said Pakistani cross-border military operations killed nearly 500 civilians and wounded over 1,000 in neighboring between October and June.
At a televised news conference, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan had targeted only hideouts and infrastructure used by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, during that period, and said those killed in the strikes were militants.
He said the operations were carried out in self-defense to protect the lives of people in Pakistan.
Chaudhry questioned recently released reports by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, and , saying they relied largely on accounts from Afghans despite what he described as restrictions on freedom of expression under
He also accused Afghanistan鈥檚 Taliban government of sheltering militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan and said international rights organizations had failed to document such violence.
鈥淭hese are double standards,鈥� Chaudhry said, asking how many times rights groups had documented civilian casualties caused by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes during the war in Afghanistan.
Chaudhry鈥檚 remarks came days after UNAMA, in a report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, said it had documented 499 civilians killed and 1,216 wounded in fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan despite international efforts to reduce tensions.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have exchanged fire intermittently for months, but tensions escalated sharply in February, when Afghan forces launched a cross-border raid into Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Islamabad later declared it was in 鈥渙pen war.鈥�
Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants who carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban. The group is separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan since it returned to power in the country in 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Afghanistan denies providing sanctuary to militants.
In the deadliest reported attack in the recent fighting, a in the Afghan capital Kabul in March, killing hundreds of civilians. Amnesty International said last week the bombing should be investigated as a possible war crime.
Chaudhry defended the strikes, saying Pakistan had carried out operations in Kabul and elsewhere with precision to target militant infrastructure supporting attacks inside Pakistan. He said Pakistan is also continuing operations inside the country against 鈥淜hawarij,鈥� a term Pakistan uses for TTP and affiliated groups.
According to Chaudhry, Pakistan has recorded 3,145 鈥渢errorism incidents鈥� since January.
He said Pakistan had killed 2,084 militants since January, while 819 Pakistanis, including soldiers, police officers and civilians, had been killed. He said security forces had carried out 40,348 intelligence-based operations across the country during the same period.
Chaudhry also said Afghanistan-based militants had carried out 28 in Pakistan since January and alleged that most were carried out by Afghan nationals or people associated with Afghanistan鈥檚 security forces. He alleged that drug addicts had been recruited to carry out suicide bombings.
鈥淣ot every drug addict is a terrorist, but every suicide bomber was a drug addict,鈥� he said.
Chaudhry said Pakistan launched a new counterterrorism operation earlier this year following a surge in militant violence and would continue the campaign. 鈥淲e will continue these operations,鈥� he said, adding that Pakistan was winning the fight against terrorism and, 鈥淕od willing, we will win.鈥�
He also accused the outlawed and TTP of directing attacks in Pakistan鈥檚 insurgency-hit southwestern Balochistan province from Afghanistan. Balochistan has long faced a separatist insurgency led by BLA that accuses the government of discrimination and exploiting the province鈥檚 natural resources. The government denies the allegations.
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