Pakistan wary of ‘militant’ attacks after Afghanistan air strikes

Security forces have arrested dozens of suspects amid fears of a fresh surge in militant violence

FILE PHOTO: Residents gather as machinery clears the debris of a damaged house, following the Pakistani air strikes, in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, Feb 22, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Pakistan has boosted security and arrested dozens of suspects as it fears rising wave of militant attacks following its air strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan's Junior Interior Minister said on Wednesday.

"Our forces are on high-alert to combat any attacks," the minister, Talal Chaudhry, told Reuters. "You know the militants always react whenever we go after their hideouts in Afghanistan."

Pakistan carried out air strikes on targets in Afghanistan over the weekend on what it said were militant targets responsible for a spate of recent suicide bombings on Pakistani soil.

Islamabad blames Kabul for allowing the fighters to use Afghanistan as a safe haven. Kabul denies the charges, saying the militancy is Pakistan's internal problem.

Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire along their border on Tuesday, with each side accusing the other of initiating the clash.

There have also been a number of militant attacks, including the ambush of a police vehicle in Kohat city in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in which five officers and two civilians were killed and a suicide bombing at a checkpoint that killed two policemen.

Chaudhry said the retaliatory attacks by militants proved Islamabad's case that they had linkages in Afghanistan, adding that the forces had averted several attacks in recent weeks and arrested a number of suspects, including Afghans.

Security forces have accelerated search and intelligence based operations and "have arrested dozens of suspected militants, their handlers and their facilitators," the minister said.

Multiple sources added that Pakistan's intelligence agencies have issued alerts for a possible surge in terror attacks in Pakistan in coming days.

Urban centres, markets, security forces and places of worship could be possible targets, according to the alerts, the sources said.

"We have been given a strong caution about more terror attacks in our official communications. In this regard, we have almost doubled our search operations across Pakistan," said an intelligence official.

Another intelligence official added the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are already under terror attacks and "we fear that Afghanistan will retaliate against Pakistan through terror networks in Punjab and Sindh as well."

Militancy is a growing problem for Pakistan with the number of attacks rising every year since 2022, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a global monitoring organization.

Data from ACLED shows attacks in Pakistan rose nearly fourfold to 2,425 in 2025 from 658 in 2022 and over the same period, TTP attacks increased more than seven-fold to 838 from 118.