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PAKISTAN SILENCES UNPROVOKED CROSS-BORDER FIRING BY AFGHAN TALIBAN ‘IMMEDIATELY AND EFFECTIVELY’ Wednesday, 25 February, 2026 | 7 Ramazan, 1447
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PM'S SPOKESPERSON SAYS SECURITY FORCES RESPONDED IMMEDIATELY TO SILENCE UNPROVOKED AGGRESSION
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ISLAMABAD
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REAFFIRMS PAKISTAN WOULD ‘CONTINUE TO PROTECT ITS CITIZENS AND GUARD ITS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY’
2 cops martyred as suicide bomber strikes Dajil checkpost in Bhakkar
Staff report
ECURITY forces responded immediately to stop unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban at the PakistanAfghanistan border on Tuesday amid intense friction between the two countries, according to the prime minister's spokesperson. "The Afghan Taliban regime initiated unprovoked firing along the PakistanAfghanistan Border in Torkham and Tirah sub-sectors. Pakistan’s security forces responded immediately and effectively, silencing the Taliban aggression," said Mosharraf Zaidi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's spokesperson for foreign media, in a post on X. In a post on the social media platform X, he said, “Pakistan’s security forces responded immediately and effectively, silencing the Taliban aggression.” He said that any further provocation would be responded to “immediately and severely”. He said Pakistan would “continue to protect its citizens and guard its territorial integrity”. The development comes after Pakistan targeted terrorist camps and hideouts overnight in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan over the weekend, with an official saying that “more than 80” terrorists had been killed in the air strikes. The strikes were the most extensive military engagement between the two neighbours since border clashes broke out in October last year. According to an information ministry statement, issued in the early hours of Sunday, the strikes were carried out in response to a number of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan — such as the suicide bombing at an imambargah in Islamabad and a number of attacks in Bannu and Bajaur. “Pakistan has conclusive evidence that these acts of terrorism were perpetrated by Khwarij at the behest of their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers,” it said. The information ministry said that in a retributive response, Pakistan carried out “intelligencebased selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Pakistani Taliban [Fitna al Khwarij] and its affiliates, and [Islamic State-
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Khorasan] at the border region of Pakistan-Afghan border with precision and accuracy”. Fitna al Khwarij is the term the state uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Despite repeated efforts by Pakistan to urge the Afghan Taliban Regime to take verifiable measures to deny use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups and foreign proxies to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban Regime failed to undertake any substantive action against them,” the statement noted. Earlier this month, a suicide bomber struck the Imambargah Khadijah al-Kubra during Friday prayers in Islamabad, killing 36 people and injuring around 169 others. The attack was the deadliest in Islamabad in more than a decade and the deadliest nationwide since the Peshawar mosque bombing in January 2023. Immediately following the blast, raids were conducted in Nowshera and Peshawar, resulting in the arrest of four facilitators. The Daeshlinked mastermind, an Afghan national, was also captured. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi stated that the network behind the blast was trained in Afghanistan and that authorities had gathered intelligence on the suspects prior to the attack. In 2023, a UN report also revealed that the
banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had established a new base in K-P in mid-2023. The report shed light on close ties not only between the TTP and the Afghan Taliban but also with anti-Pakistani groups and al Qaeda. The report further revealed that some Taliban members had also joined the TTP, perceiving it as a religious obligation to provide support. Interlocutors reported that TTP members and their families received regular aid packages from the Taliban. Importantly, the UN report noted a significant increase in Afghan nationals in the TTP ranks. This supported Pakistan’s stance that a growing number of Afghan nationals were involved in suicide attacks in the country. More recently, a UNSC report said that attacks on Pakistan by the TTP from Afghanistan have increased, endorsing Islamabad's long-running complaints about militant sanctuaries across the border. The 37th report by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, dated February 4, not only endorsed Islamabad's stance that Afghanistan had become a sanctuary for militants who used its territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, but also came at a time when the country is facing a renewed spate of violence.
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Two policemen were martyred and another officer, along with three civilians, injured when a suicide bomber struck at the Dajil Inter-Provincial Checkpost in Punjab’s Bhakkar district on Tuesday evening, police officials confirmed. In a statement, Abdul Kareem, Inspector General of Punjab Police, confirmed that Constable Faheem Abbas and Constable Shahbaz Madni embraced martyrdom while performing their duty to protect the nation at the Dajil checkpost. The IG Police described their sacrifice as a shining example of bravery, courage, and devotion to duty. The attack coincided with another terrorist incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohat district, where six law enforcement personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, were martyred in an attack on a police vehicle. The Dajil checkpost, located near the border of Dera Ismail Khan and Bhakkar, came under attack while police were conducting a search operation in the area to maintain law and order. Bhakkar District Police Officer (DPO) Shahzad Rafiq confirmed that a suicide attacker approached the checkpost and detonated explosives. “Two policemen were martyred and one officer was injured, while three passersby also sustained injuries in the blast,” the DPO said. The deceased policemen have been identified as Muhammad Faheem Abbas and Muhammad Shahbaz Madni, while the injured officer is Constable Muhammad Arshad.
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Dar to attend emergency OIC moot in Jeddah as Muslim states rally against Israeli moves ISLAMABAD
Staff report
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will travel to Jeddah on Wednesday to attend an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), convened to deliberate on the rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East and Israel’s actions in Palestine. The high-level meeting, scheduled for February 26 at the OIC General Secretariat, will be held at the level of foreign ministers.
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