Punjab Police detain Afghan students in Bahawalpur over alleged Taliban sympathy after border strikes

Punjab Police have arrested more than 20 Afghan national students from Quaid-e-Azam Medical College in Bahawalpur over allegations that they expressed sympathy for the Afghan Taliban following Pakistan’s recent cross-border airstrikes.

Police officials said the detentions were made after reports surfaced that certain students had publicly reacted in support of the Taliban in the aftermath of the strikes. Authorities have not released detailed information about the nature of the expressions or whether formal charges have been filed. An investigation is underway.

The arrests come days after Pakistan carried out intelligence-based strikes targeting alleged militant hideouts along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Around 70 militants killed in Pakistan strikes along Afghan border, minister says

State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the operation targeted multiple camps linked to militant groups, including Fitna al-Khawarij and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), in what he described as a retaliatory response to recent suicide attacks in Islamabad, Bajaur and Bannu.

Officials said the strikes were conducted in border regions, including areas in Afghanistan’s Paktika and Nangarhar provinces. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting termed the operation “precise and accurate,” adding that it was aimed at dismantling cross-border networks involved in attacks inside Pakistan. Authorities reported multiple casualties among militants.

Chaudhry reiterated Islamabad’s position that militant groups have been operating from Afghan soil and said Pakistan has carried out tens of thousands of intelligence-based operations domestically in recent years as part of its counterterrorism strategy.

Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have risen amid an increase in cross-border attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Pakistan has repeatedly called on Afghan authorities to prevent the use of their territory for attacks against other countries, referencing commitments made under the 2020 Doha agreement.