A combined ground assault and series of strikes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border left 29 militants dead, according to Pakistani officials. It followed by one day a deadly assault on the Karachi headquarters of the paramilitary Rangers, in which three soldiers lost their lives.
Posting on X $TWTR, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the operation was a response to a series of militant attacks around the country and that forces had struck positions used by the Pakistani Taliban as hideouts and safe havens, according to The Associated Press. Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said dozens of civilians, among them women and children, were killed or wounded in the strikes, and denounced the assault as "a crime and an act of brutality."
The Karachi assault on Saturday night started when a militant drove an explosive-packed vehicle into the Rangers' provincial base, setting off an exchange of fire with troops, according to The Associated Press. Three Rangers members died and four were wounded, the military said. Of the attackers, three were killed and one was taken into custody; the military identified the captured man as a wounded Afghan national.