Pakistan’s military killed at least 70 militants in strikes along the border with Afghanistan, targeting what it described as hideouts of Pakistani militants it blamed for recent attacks inside the country, the deputy interior minister said. Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, offered no evidence for his claim in an interview with Geo News that at least 70 militants were killed in the strikes. Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul to protest the Pakistani strikes. Hours before the Pakistani strikes, a suicide bomber targeted a security convoy in the border district of Bannu in Pakistan’s north-west, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel. In Islamabad, security analyst Abdullah Khan said the Pakistani strikes suggest that Qatari, Turkish and even Saudi-led mediations have failed to resolve tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Source: Irish Examiner February 22, 2026 19:16 UTC