Pakistan Army on Friday night targeted militant hideouts close to the Pak-Afghan border, DawnNews reported, quoting sources.

The Army reportedly targeted a training camp of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar — the banned terror outfit which claimed responsibility for the Feb 13 suicide bombing in Lahore and the Feb 15 suicide attack on the headquarters of the Mohmand Agency's political administration.

The camp was located near the Pak-Afghan border in areas adjacent to Mohmand and Khyber Agency, and was reportedly overseen by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar's deputy commander, Adil Bacha.

Sources said the Army destroyed the compound and four other terrorist hideouts. Militant casualties were reported, but there was no confirmation of the actual number.

The report could not be independently verified.

A few hours before the attack was reported, Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had called Gen John Nicholson, commander of the US's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, to protest continued acts of terrorism in Pakistan perpetrated from Afghanistan, saying they were "testing" Pakistan's policy of cross-border restraint.

Gen Bajwa had told Gen Nicholson that recent incidents of terrorism in Pakistan had been claimed by terrorist organisations whose leadership is hiding in Afghanistan, and asked him to play his role in “disconnecting this planning, direction, coordination and financial support”.

During the conversation with Nicholson, Bajwa also informed him of the list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists handed over to Afghan authorities earlier today.

The development came hours after the Inter-Services Public Relations announced that security forces had been given special orders to maintain strict vigilance along the Pak-Afghan border.

“The border has been closed since last night due to security reasons. No cross-border or unauthorised entry will be allowed into Pakistan from Afghanistan,” read an ISPR statement issued Friday.

The military's media wing also claimed to have killed more than 100 suspected militants in intelligence-based operations carried out by security forces across the country, including Punjab, in the 24 hours since the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar bombing.

Opinion

Editorial

Strange claim
21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

THOUGH Pakistan-US relations have rarely been straightforward, a sensational claim by an American official, and US...
Media strangulation
21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

AEMEND, in a recent statement, has only now drawn attention to the reality that has plagued Pakistani media for a...
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...
Tax amendments
Updated 20 Dec, 2024

Tax amendments

Bureaucracy gimmicks have not produced results, will not do so in the future.
Cricket breakthrough
20 Dec, 2024

Cricket breakthrough

IT had been made clear to Pakistan that a Champions Trophy without India was not even a distant possibility, even if...
Troubled waters
20 Dec, 2024

Troubled waters

LURCHING from one crisis to the next, the Pakistani state has been consistent in failing its vulnerable citizens....