Three injured in Khariji drone attack on Bajaur cricket ground in KP

At least three people were injured in a terrorist drone attack on a cricket ground in the Mamund area of ​​Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Friday, according to state media.

According to state television PTV Newsthe attack was carried out using a quadcopter in Shahi Tangi area of ​​Mamund tehsil while a cricket match was in progress. The injured were immediately taken to hospital for treatment.

Read: Five injured in Afghan cross-border shelling

It said a press release issued by the Bajaur Deputy Commissioner said that during the last two months, mortar shells had been fired from the Afghan side into various border areas of the district, particularly Mamund and Slarzai.

It added that the Afghan Taliban’s firing on the civilian population in Bajaur had resulted in the martyrdom of nine people, including three women and six children.

Local sources said quadcopters were used to target civilians to spread fear and panic, adding that video evidence of such incidents had emerged earlier. They said the attack was deliberately timed during the cricket match.

“Such attacks reflect an inability to confront security forces directly, with civilians being attacked instead,” the state broadcaster said, adding that public anger was growing due to repeated incidents against civilians.

After the incident, security in the area was put on high alert. Security forces cordoned off the site and launched a search operation to trace those involved.

“Security forces are conducting an effective response to such attacks, targeting militant positions and supporting infrastructure,” PTV News reported.

Tribal elders and residents strongly condemned the attack and demanded complete elimination of terrorists to ensure public safety.

Also read: Pakistan army reacts to unprovoked aggression by Afghan Taliban: security sources

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar condemned today’s incident.

“The inhumane violent spate of deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by the Taliban regime of Afghans in the border districts of KP is unacceptable, insidious and reflects their barbaric nature towards human life. Resorting to targeted civilian areas after being comprehensively beaten to the ground by proud security forces of Pakistan and not only speaking against them is not only moral but having courage towards them is not only moral. The character of the regime leaders.”

He said the Taliban regime’s “so-called representatives continue to make frivolous false allegations of deliberate targeting of civilians from Pakistan”.

Tarar said it was “reported with a lot of clarity and evidence that Pakistan is only targeting terrorist infrastructure, and information has always been quickly and transparently shared with the public when Pakistan targets terrorist hideouts and supporting infrastructure under areas controlled by the Afghan Taliban regime, while paying close attention to any civilian harm”.

Earlier this week, security forces carried out retaliatory attacks on key locations, including the Ariana compound, Dabgai check post, police headquarters and Zakarkhel post, which were destroyed.

The Pakistan Air Force also targeted positions in Laghman province and destroyed an arms depot, ABF battalion headquarters and the Nangarhar Brigade. Sources further said that a Taliban post near the Mohmand sector was also destroyed, stressing that only Afghan military targets were hit in accordance with international law.

On April 15, three civilians, including two children, were martyred and three others were injured when Afghan Taliban forces carried out unprovoked firing on local people in a border area of ​​KP’s Bajaur district, according to state media.

The incident marked a renewed episode of cross-border aggression after a gap of over a month, following Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, which was launched in response to earlier unprovoked hostility from the Afghan side.

Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched around the end of February following renewed clashes along the Pak-Afghan border after Afghan Taliban forces fired at several locations, prompting swift military retaliation from Pakistan.

Read: 13 terrorists neutralized in two infiltration bids on KP’s Pak-Afghan border: ISPR

The neighboring countries were engaged in escalating hostilities along the border since then. Clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani airstrikes targeting terrorist positions and subsided during a temporary ceasefire on the occasion of Eidul Fitr.

The escalation in tensions between the two countries followed a series of tit-for-tat actions over the past year.

Pakistan has previously carried out airstrikes targeting camps in the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State’s Khorasan province inside Afghanistan following a spate of attacks, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad.

Islamabad has long maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory, a claim that Kabul has repeatedly denied.

Tensions also rose after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year. Taliban forces subsequently targeted areas along the Pakistan border, prompting Islamabad to respond with cross-border shelling.

The exchanges caused losses and damage to infrastructure on both sides and led to the suspension of trade after the border crossings were closed on 12 October 2025.