Four civilians were killed after artillery and mortar fire from across the border hit a house in the Tabesta Letai area of Salarzai in Bajaur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated on Sunday.

In a post on X, Tarar wrote: “The Afghan Taliban regime deliberately targeted the civilian population through artillery/mortar fire from across the border in Tabesta Letai, Salarzai area of KP’s Bajaur district.”


He added: “Four innocent civilians have embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while one five-year-old child is seriously injured as a house was hit in this attack.”

Separately, Pakistan carried out overnight strikes in Kandahar Province, targeting “terrorist hideouts and military infrastructure” as the military continued operations against the Afghan Taliban, state-run broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation reported on Sunday, citing security sources.

Sharing an operational update, Tarar wrote: “On night March 14/15, Pakistan Armed Forces targeted military installations including terrorist hideouts of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij.”

He added that in these attacks, Pakistan’s forces also destroyed technical support infrastructure and equipment storage facility, in Kandahar, that was being used by Afghan Taliban and terrorists against innocent Pakistani civilians.

Tarar further stated: “A tunnel that housed technical equipment of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij was also destroyed in Kandahar.”

He also wrote that similarly, in Chitral Sector, a terrorist jump off point at Badini Post of Afghanistan was destroyed through ground forces.

Providing figures in the update, the minister stated that 684 Afghan Taliban personnel had been killed so far, while more than 912 had been injured.

He added that 252 posts had been destroyed, while 44 posts were captured and destroyed. According to the minister, 229 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns had also been destroyed.
Tarar further wrote that “73 terrorists and terrorist support infrastructure locations across Afghanistan [have been] effectively targeted by air.”

He also stated: “Attached video shows precision engagement by Pakistan on those installations and terrorist camps which directly / indirectly support terrorism from Afghan soil. No civilian population or infrastructure was targeted as falsely propagated by Afghan regime officials and media.”

The minister also commented on the incident that took place in Bajaur, stating: “This cowardly and heinous deliberate targeting of civilians by Afghan Taliban regime in cohorts with terrorists organisation Fitna al Khawarij is not only a grevious violation of international law and basic human values but is also reflective of their deep frustration and desperation while facing heavy setbacks on multiple fronts by the armed forces of Pakistan through targeted attacks on terrorists and support infrastructures as part of operation Ghazab lil-Haq.”