By Our Correspondent

KABUL/ISLAMABAD - Local Afghan residents and a former Afghan intelligence official have disputed the Afghan Taliban's claim that Pakistani airstrikes killed only civilians during cross-border recent strikes in eastern Afghanistan, telling The South Asia Times that the homes targeted were being used by senior commanders of the banned terrorist groups Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The claims emerged after Pakistan acknowledged carrying out precision strikes under Operation Ghazb Lil Haq against what it described as terrorist camps and safe havens in Afghanistan's eastern provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar during the night of June 28-29.

Pakistan launched the operation days after a series of deadly militant attacks inside the country, including an assault on a Pakistan Rangers camp in Karachi. Pakistani authorities have said Afghan nationals took part in the Karachi attack and that one suspected Afghan attacker was captured alive in an injured condition.

According to Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the operation targeted camps belonging to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khwarij, a term the Pakistani government uses for the terrorist group TTP and affiliated militant organizations.

"Security forces precisely struck terrorist camps and safe havens of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khwarij in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar, eliminating terrorists and destroying weapons and ammunition stockpiles," Tarar said.

He also criticized international media outlets that describe the groups as "militants" rather than terrorists.

"Terrorists are terrorists. They have no caste, colour, creed or religion," Tarar said.

- Local residents describe strikes on militant compounds

Residents interviewed separately by The South Asia Times offered accounts that differed sharply from the version presented by the Afghan Taliban.

A resident from Mandukhel village in the Chamkani district of Paktia province said the house struck by Pakistani aircraft belonged to Sheikh Abdul Hadi, whom he identified as a senior TTP commander originally from Pakistan's Waziristan region.

According to the resident, Abdul Hadi was killed in the initial strike.

He said armed TTP fighters immediately sealed off the area after the attack and prevented villagers from approaching the compound.

"When local people tried to go near the house, TTP militants stopped everyone from reaching the site," the resident told The South Asia Times.

He added that Pakistani aircraft later conducted a second strike after armed militants had gathered at the location.

"Nearly 20 TTP militants were reportedly killed in the second strike. We saw the vehicles come there and remove their bodies by TTP members themselves," he said.

The resident said the Afghan Taliban's assertion that the targeted house belonged to ordinary civilians is not correct.

"The statement issued by the Taliban spokesman is not correct. This was the house of a key TTP commander who had moved here from Waziristan. Local people had long observed Afghan Taliban officials visiting this house to meet TTP members."

- Paktika house allegedly belonged to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar commander

Another local source told The South Asia Times that a second strike in Walosht village of Jani Khel district, Paktika province, targeted the residence of a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar commander locally known as Mufti Sahiba.

The source said the commander's family was living there but insisted it was not an ordinary civilian residence.

"It was known locally that this was the house of a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar commander," the source said.

- Kunar strike reportedly hit meeting place

A tribal elder from Kunar province gave a similar account regarding the third strike.

He said Pakistani aircraft targeted the residence of Commander Bashir in Barowlo village of Marawara district.

According to the elder, Bashir originally belonged to Pakistan's Mohmand district and had been relocated to eastern Afghanistan.

"People in the village regularly saw armed militants arriving at the house in vehicles to meet Bashir," he said.

"It had become a meeting place for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar."

- Former Afghan intelligence official questions Taliban narrative

A former Afghan intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity in Kabul, also disputed the Taliban's account.

He alleged that the Afghan Taliban had relocated senior TTP commanders into residential neighborhoods to make them less vulnerable to Pakistani airstrikes.

"The Taliban have provided houses to key TTP commanders in populated residential areas even in capital Kabul," he said.

"Local people know these houses belong to TTP leaders, but nobody can complain. The authorities themselves are providing these houses, so where would anyone go?"

He argued that casualties among women and children could occur because commanders often lived there with their families.

"When Pakistan targets these houses, naturally family members may also be present. That does not change the fact that these compounds belong to TTP commanders."

The former official further claimed Pakistan's intelligence network inside Afghanistan appeared to be highly effective.

"The accuracy of these strikes suggests Pakistan has developed reliable intelligence sources across Afghanistan. The Taliban are now concerned about how Pakistan is identifying these locations."

- Taliban says civilians were targeted

The Afghan Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on social media that Pakistani fighter aircraft bombed three civilian homes across Paktia, Paktika and Kunar.

He said a total of 36 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 163 others wounded across the three provinces, while three residential houses were completely destroyed.

The strikes came amid rapidly worsening relations between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban administration.

On Monday night, Pakistan summoned Afghanistan's chargé d'affaires in Islamabad to lodge a formal diplomatic protest over the Karachi Rangers camp attack.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Afghan nationals, including one suspect captured alive, participated in the assault, which it said demonstrated once again that Afghan territory continued to be used to organize attacks inside Pakistan.

Pakistan has consistently maintained that leaders of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar have established sanctuaries inside Afghanistan following the Taliban's return to power in August 2021.

Islamabad says these groups have been responsible for a sharp increase in attacks on Pakistani security forces and civilians, particularly in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The Afghan Taliban rejects those accusations and insists it does not permit Afghan territory to be used against other countries.