Why Israel recognised the Armenian genocide but still does not recognise the H

Ekmekjian Janet
European Pravda

June 29 2026
Monday, 29 June 2026 — Anton Filippov

The Israeli government has officially recognised the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

For decades, Israel kept the Armenian tragedy in the category of a diplomatic taboo in order to avoid damaging relations with Ankara. It has now decided to take a different course.

Read more about how historical memory has become a geopolitical instrument in the column by Ihor Semivolos of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies: The Armenian genocide, but not the Ukrainian one: How the Israeli government uses history as a political tool.

According to the author, the principal beneficiary, and driving force, behind the decision is Israel itself, which seeks to deliver an asymmetric political blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“After Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Turkish leader, in Tel Aviv’s view, crossed every red line with his anti-Israeli rhetoric. Since the bridges with Türkiye had already been burned, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government decided to raise the stakes to the highest level, demonstrating domestic unity while punishing Ankara for its regional position,” Semivolos writes.

In his view, Türkiye may respond by completely severing diplomatic relations with Israel, but it will certainly appeal to Washington for support.

Baku, while issuing a formal diplomatic protest in solidarity with Türkiye, is operating within a new regional reality.

“With greater room for maneuver, Azerbaijan will not overreact. Instead, it will use its oil leverage and the new geopolitical balance, together with Turkish lobbyists, to dilute and delay the final passage of the bill in the Knesset as much as possible,” the Executive Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies argues.

Armenia, meanwhile, finds itself in a difficult position. Its prime minister is dismantling long-standing historical narratives at home in pursuit of a painful reconciliation with Türkiye, making it impossible for Yerevan to express enthusiastic gratitude to Israel.

“Doing so would risk damaging relations with Iran, which remains Armenia’s critical logistical gateway to the outside world,” the expert explains.

According to Semivolos, another major dimension of this debate concerns the recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide – a step that the Knesset has consistently refused to take.

He argues that Israel’s position rests on two pillars: the determined defense of the concept of the absolute uniqueness of the Shoah (the Holocaust) and pragmatic relations with the Kremlin.

“As long as Israel approaches international affairs primarily through the prism of immediate tactical threats, the historical tragedies of other nations, whether Armenian or Ukrainian will continue to be viewed in Tel Aviv not through the lens of universal morality, but as either assets or liabilities on the current geopolitical chessboard,” the author concludes.

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Is Armenia becoming the next battleground between Europe and Russia?

Hambik Zargarian
Brussels Signal

June 29 2026
Presented by VideoLead Reporter & Video Editor

In this episode of Frontline, we speak with Armenian political analyst Benyamin Poghosyan, Senior Research Fellow at APRI Armenia, to examine what really happened in the during the 2026 election and why the common “pro-West vs. pro-Russia” narrative may be far too simplistic.

We explore:

  • Why nearly half of Armenia voted for Pashinyan despite the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)
  • Whether Armenia has truly achieved peace with Azerbaijan—or if new risks remain
  • The debate over the right of return for displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Why many Armenians believe the country remains under pressure from Azerbaijan?
  • The growing political conflict between the government, opposition parties, and the Armenian Apostolic Church
  • Whether Armenia’s democracy is becoming stronger or more fragile
  • The role of the European Union, Russia, the United States, and Turkey in shaping Armenia’s future
  • Why some analysts fear Armenia could become the next geopolitical battleground between Brussels and Moscow

This conversation goes beyond the usual headlines and explores the complex realities facing Armenia after years of war, territorial losses, political polarization, and shifting alliances.

Whether you support Pashinyan’s vision of normalisation and peace, or believe Armenia is making dangerous concessions, this interview provides crucial insights into one of the most important geopolitical stories in the South Caucasus today.

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Israel’s recognition of Armenian Genocide allows both nations to move forward,

Ani Tigranian
Jerusalem post

June 29 2026

The Knesset’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide will end a long and honorable process and reunite ancient peoples united by history, says former Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia.

ByGRIGOR HOVHANNISSIANJUNE 29, 2026 13:39Updated: JUNE 29, 2026 17:54

The Israeli government’s unanimous decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide deserves to be welcomed with gratitude and relief. It is a historic act of moral clarity which removes an unnecessary burden from the relationship between two ancient peoples whose histories have long echoed one another. 

Assuming the Knesset gives this recognition permanent _expression_, ensuring that it becomes not only the decision of one government but the settled position of the State of Israel, then Israel will have completed a long and honorable process. Israelis and Armenians can finally begin to move beyond a moral question that should never have divided them.

For years, the question of the Armenian Genocide was raised by scholars, public intellectuals, civil society figures, Knesset members, ministers, and presidents who understood the ethical weight of the Armenian case. Israel Charny, Amos Oz, Haim Gouri, S. Yizhar, Amnon Rubinstein, Elie Wiesel, Reuven Rivlin, Yuli Edelstein, Yair Lapid, Tamar Zandberg, Yossi Sarid, Haim Oron, and many others kept alive the conviction that recognition was both a moral imperative and a Jewish one.

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What prevented it was geopolitical calculation. Successive Israeli governments avoided formal recognition in order to protect strategic, military, diplomatic, and intelligence ties with Ankara. In recent years, Azerbaijan joined Turkey’s efforts to prevent recognition, adding another obstacle. The result was that the Armenian Genocide was treated as a foreign-policy bargaining chip.

The closure we are witnessing is a chance for Israel to align state policy with the moral standards it has long demanded from others, and to honor the generations of Israelis who have argued for recognizing historical truth.

Recognizing a long overdue truth

The campaign for denial, of course, stretches back decades.

The story stretches back more than four decades. At the 1982 International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide in Tel Aviv, Turkish pressure led organizers to exclude discussion of the Armenian Genocide. In the decades that followed, Meretz leaders, especially Yossi Sarid, kept the issue alive, while Haim Oron repeatedly brought it before Knesset committees. In 2011, the Knesset held one of its first serious debates on recognition and referred the matter to the Education Committee, an important step that nevertheless fell short of official policy.

The momentum continued. As Knesset Speaker, Reuven Rivlin strongly backed recognition, and in 2015 Speaker Yuli Edelstein publicly endorsed it during the centenary commemorations in Armenia. The Knesset Education Committee formally recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2016 and urged the government to do the same. Yet further initiatives—including Yair Lapid’s proposal, Tamar Zandberg’s bill, and legislation introduced in 2020 and 2021 recognizing the genocide and establishing an April 24 memorial day, ultimately failed to become law.

Later, as rhetoric toward Turkey hardened, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally used language indicating recognition, but personal or rhetorical recognition was never the same as state recognition.

Now, with the government’s unanimous approval of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s proposal, recognition has moved for the first time from individuals’ gestures to state policy.

Israeli recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and condemnation of denial, minimization, and distortion of historical truth, carries a significance that few other external acts of recognition can match. Perhaps only recognition by Turkey itself would have greater symbolic weight. Israel is not just another country in this matter. It is the state of the Jewish people, founded in the shadow of catastrophe and built upon the imperative that denial must never be allowed to prevail. When Israel recognizes the Armenian Genocide, it does not dilute the memory of the Holocaust. It strengthens the moral language through which all peoples defend historical truth against erasure.

This recognition also comes at a moment of acute vulnerability for Armenia. The country remains weakened by the devastating 2020-3 wars against the Azerbaijan-Turkey axis and is still absorbing the trauma of the destruction of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian enclave whose population was forced to flee in 2023. Armenia is being pressed into a normalization process in which peace threatens to resemble historical amnesia.

Turkey continues to present itself as a responsible regional leader while refusing acknowledgment, remorse, or reconciliation. Azerbaijan seeks not only the political consolidation of its victory but also the erasure or neutralization of the Armenian memory attached to Artsakh and to the long arc of genocide, dispossession, and survival.

In this context, clear and vocal Israeli recognition is not a gesture against peace. It is a safeguard against a coerced peace built on the surrender of identity, memory, and moral truth. Armenia seeks, against great odds, a stable and dignified peace for its children. But peace is not made stronger by demanding silence from the wounded. It is made stronger when truth is recognized, and memory is allowed to survive.

For Armenians, the Israeli decision is meaningful also because Armenia never made recognition a precondition for friendship. Armenian officials understood that Israel faced difficult geopolitical constraints, even when those were painful to witness. Armenia continued to argue for closer ties with Israel, including during periods of disagreement, because the relationship between the two peoples rests on something deeper.

Jews and Armenians share a deep connection with one another

Jews and Armenians understand one another in ways that few peoples can. Both carried their identities through centuries without sovereignty. Both endured persecution while preserving rich civilizations. Both entered the twentieth century only to become victims of extreme violence. Both rebuilt themselves against extraordinary odds. These parallels create a special moral intimacy.

Indeed, the histories have long been intertwined. Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish lawyer who coined the word “genocide,” saw the Armenian case as central to his understanding of the crime. Franz Werfel’s The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, written by a Jewish author as a warning in the age of Hitler, became one of the great literary monuments to the Armenian tragedy and later inspired Jewish resistance fighters during the Holocaust.

That is why this moment should be received not with bitterness over how long it took, but with gratitude that it has finally arrived. The delay was painful, and the compromises that produced it should not be forgotten. But neither should the courage of those Israelis who refused, over many decades, to let the Armenian Genocide disappear from public conscience. They helped prepare the ground for this day, and they deserve to be honored.

The Israeli government has taken a courageous and commendable step. The Knesset should ensure that this recognition endures as the permanent and democratic _expression_ of the State of Israel. More importantly, Israelis and Armenians can now move on, and forward. There are far too few moments in our region when history bends toward reconciliation rather than division. This is one of them, and it deserves to be welcomed.

Grigor Hovhannissian is the former Ambassador of Armenia to the United States and Mexico and the former Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia.

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Ex-PM Samaras urges Athens to leverage Israel’s Armenian genocide recognition

Baghdasarian Karlen
eKathimerini, Greece

June 29 2026
29.06.2026 • 17:41

Former prime minister Antonis Samaras has called on the Greek government to diplomatically utilize Sunday’s decision by Israel to unanimously recognize the massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide, pressing for corresponding recognition of the genocide of Greeks by the Ottoman Empire.

Samaras, a veteran conservative politician who served as prime minister from 2012 to 2015 and was expelled from the ruling New Democracy party in November 2024 following repeated public criticism of government policy, described Israel’s decision as a “brave step” that “fulfills a historical duty, recognizing the genocide that the Armenians suffered in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.” 

The politician, who is widely expected to announce the formation of a new political party imminently, also said he believes the way is now opening for the official recognition by Israel of the genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, Thrace, and Asia Minor.

“Something like this would serve as a decisive barrier to [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman expansionist plans that are aimed against Greece, Cyprus, Israel, and the brave Kurdish people,” Samaras said. “The Greek government must take advantage of the opportunity and convey to the Israeli government its strong support for such an initiative.”

Israel’s move is widely seen as a rebuke to Turkey and a stark signal of the deepening rift between the two countries.

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Israeli gov’t recognition of Armenian Genocide brings relations between the tw

Arsine Chaltikian
Syriac Press

June 29 2026
 29/06/2026

ANKARA / JERUSALEM — Following yesterday’s historic Israeli government decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915, which also targeted the Syriac (Aramean-Assyrian-Chaldean) and Pontic Greek peoples, the Turkish Foreign Ministry quickly issued a counter-statement denying the genocide and levying accusations against Israel and its government.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry asserted that “the Israeli government, which is systematically oppressing the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world and is currently being tried before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the residents of Gaza, is seeking to cover up its own crimes through this political decision regarding the events of 1915.” It further stated that “this malicious attempt, which disregards legal and historical facts, exposes the predicament of Netanyahu and his associates, who have had arrest warrants issued against them in the context of the International Criminal Court’s investigation into crimes committed against Palestinians.”

The ministry emphasized that it would continue to work “resolutely to put an end to Israel’s expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region, and ensure that the Netanyahu government is held accountable under the law for crimes committed against civilians, particularly the Palestinian people.”

It is never too late to do the right thing

The Israeli government yesterday announced “a historic decision” that “The Israeli government has unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s proposal to recognize the Armenian Genocide,” noting that the government’s decision requires ratification by the Knesset to take effect.

“The Armenian Genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutional campaign of denial, including misleading historical revisionism, led primarily by the Turkish government,” Sa’ar said.

“For Israel, as a Jewish state, I believe the time has come to officially adopt this stance. It is never too late to do the right thing. This is both a moral and historical duty,” he added, noting that “this is not an act of retaliation due to open hostility, or the terrible rhetoric, or the hostile measures taken by Turkey under Erdogan’s leadership.”

He also asserted that “the fact that Turkey promotes false narratives against Israel does not grant it immunity from historical truths,” a reference to the Armenian Genocide.

Erdoğan versus Netanyahu

The exchange of accusations between the two governments was initially triggered by statements from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said at the conclusion of the 33rd consultation and evaluation meeting of his Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) that he would hold accountable and pursue those responsible for violence in Gaza, reiterating his characterization of the war in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.

Netanyahu responded to Erdoğan’s threats on the same day, stating: “Not a day goes by without Erdoğan calling for the destruction of Israel. We take these words seriously, because if there is one lesson we have learned from the history of our people, it is that when someone declares their intention to destroy you, we must take their words seriously. We take these statements seriously, and we will inform our American friends about them. We will not ignore them.”

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Syriac Cultural Association visits Armenian Orthodox Church in Latakia to stre

Jhanna Virabian
Syriac Press

June 29 2026
 29/06/2026

LATAKIA, Syria — As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen cooperation between Churches and Christian community institutions, a delegation from the Syriac Cultural Association in Latakia visited the Armenian Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary, where they met with Father Vasken, the parish priest. The meeting focused on ways to enhance joint work, serve the community, and preserve heritage and cultural identity.

During the meeting, the delegation presented the Association’s mission and objectives, along with its most prominent cultural and social activities carried out in recent months. These initiatives aim to preserve Syriac heritage, strengthen cultural identity, and promote community engagement among different segments of society.

For his part, Father Vasken expressed his appreciation for the Association’s efforts in serving the community and preserving heritage and identity. He praised its initiatives and programs, emphasizing the importance of continuing such activities because of their role in promoting culture and strengthening social ties among the people of the region.

Father Vasken also blessed the Association’s work and prayed for the success and continuation of its mission. He announced his readiness to support its activities by encouraging children to participate in the programs and events it organizes and by helping to promote its message, thereby enhancing its cultural and social presence.

Read Also: Syriac Cultural Association meets Father Hanania Warda in Latakia to discuss preserving Syriac heritage

At the conclusion of the visit, the delegation expressed its gratitude to Father Vasken and the church administration for their warm reception, stressing that such meetings reflect the spirit of fraternity and cooperation between Churches and community institutions and contribute to uniting efforts to serve society and preserve the shared cultural and human heritage.

The Syriac Cultural Association has conducted several visits to Church leaders in various Syrian cities since obtaining official authorization from the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor on 3 February 2026. Among those visited was Father Hanania Warda, who emphasized the richness of the Syriac language and its historical importance as an integral part of the region’s cultural and civilizational heritage. He also stressed the need to give the language greater attention and ensure its faithful transmission to future generations.

Father Hanania likewise announced his full support and cooperation with the Association’s various activities. He highlighted the importance of maintaining continuous communication with Churches of all denominations, noting that such openness contributes significantly to expanding the Association’s reach and strengthening its activities in service of its cultural mission.

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Medvedev Warns Of Armenia-Russia Split

Toneyan Mark
Eurasia Review

June 29 2026
 June 29, 2026  0 Comments

By PanARMENIAN

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and United Russia party leader Dmitry Medvedev has said that a break in Armenia’s longstanding ties with Russia would have serious consequences for ordinary Armenian citizens.

According to Medvedev, the West views Yerevan only as a tool in its confrontation with Moscow and has no genuine interest in the well-being of the Armenian people, Vedomosti reported.

Medvedev also said that Western countries interfered in Armenia’s election campaign.

“The inevitable severe consequences for ordinary citizens resulting from the rupture of ties built over decades are of absolutely no concern to the countries of the European Union,” the politician stressed.

The Russian Security Council deputy chairman also claimed that the West seeks to push out of Armenia’s political arena all forces that support constructive relations between Moscow and Yerevan. He added that the United Russia party is concerned about the situation in Armenia, where the Prosecutor General’s Office has requested that opposition Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik Tsarukyan be stripped of parliamentary immunity. According to Medvedev, these actions, along with the widespread use of administrative resources, contradict the authorities’ statements about their commitment to democracy.

On June 14, the final results of the June 7 parliamentary elections were published. Civil Contract received 726,819 votes, or 49.7456%, Strong Armenia won 340,006 votes, or 23.2710%, and the Hayastan Alliance secured 144,983 votes, or 9.9231%. The Prosperous Armenia party failed to pass the 4% electoral threshold, receiving 58,287 votes, or 3.9893%, and will not enter parliament.

Civil Contract will hold 64 seats (including three allocated to national minority representatives), Strong Armenia will have 29 seats (including one Assyrian representative), and the Hayastan Alliance will hold 12 seats.

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Sports: BJK Cup Regional Groups Recap: Avanesyan shines for Armenia, Philippin

Ophelia Vardapetian

June 29 2026

BJK Cup Regional Groups Recap: Avanesyan shines for Armenia, Philippines return to Group I


Elina Avanesyan announced her return to top-tier tennis as she helped Armenia return to Europe/Africa Group II for the first time since 2011 in the recent round of Regional Group action at the Billie Jean King Cup.

The former World No. 36 was laid low by a wrist injury and then mononucleosis — also known as glandular fever — in 2025, and dropped out of the top 300 in the WTA Singles Rankings.

But on her BJK Cup debut for Armenia, Avanesyan won all her four matches during Europe Group III play in San Marino to lead her team to promotion.

While the 2026 BJK Cup season will reach a climax in September with the showpiece Finals in Shenzhen, China, the battle for spots in the Regional Groups for next year’s competition has already begun. Three BJK Cup Regional Group events took place at the end of June.

While Armenia and Moldova earned promotion from Europe/Africa Group III, Hong Kong and the Philippines sealed a place in Asia Oceania Group I, while Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago are set to step up to Americas Group II.

How do BJK Cup Regional Groups work?

Regional Group events take place over a week at one location. Each Group is split into round-robin pools, with play-offs then deciding promotion and relegation. The exact format of each Group varies according to the number of participating teams.

Here’s a deeper dive into the regional action in June:

Asia Oceania Group II

The Philippines earned promotion to Asia Oceania Group I for the first time since 2017. Playing without their biggest name in Alexandra Eala, the Philippines topped Group A and then edged Uzbekistan 2-1 in the promotion play-offs.

With teams level on 1-1 after the singles matches, Alexa Joy Milliam and Shaira Rivera claimed an epic 6-4 3-6 10-6 win over Uzbekistan’s Nigina Alimova and Sevil Yuldasheva in the doubles to secure their progress.

The Asia Oceania Group II matches were held on the hard courts of the National Tennis Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the 10 competing teams were split into two groups of five, with the top two finishers advancing to the promotion play-offs.

While the Philippines and Hong Kong qualified from Group A, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan progressed from Group B.

Hong Kong’s highest-ranked nominated player in the tie, Cheuk Ying Shek, did not drop a single set through the week. Fittingly, she wrapped up their successful campaign with a 6-1 6-0 win over the higher-ranked Ya Yi Yang as Hong Kong defeated Chinese Taipei 2-0 to immediately return to Group I.

Laos and Kyrgyzstan, meanwhile, dropped down to Group III after losing their relegation play-offs against Pacific Oceania and Sri Lanka respectively.


Europe Group III

San Marino played host to Europe Group III, as 13 teams contested for two spots to step up to Europe/Africa Group II.

The competing nations were first split into four groups and Estonia (Group A), Moldova (Group B), Malta (Group C) and Armenia (Group D) topped their respective pools to advance to the promotion play-offs.

Avanesyan, whose parents had emigrated from Armenia to Russia, switched nationalities and started playing for the country of her parents’ birth from 2024. Donning the Armenia jersey for the first time in BJK Cup action, the 23-year-old made an instant impact as she remained unbeaten through the week to help her team return to Europe/Africa Group II.

The 23-year-old is also on comeback trail after dealing with her injury and illness issues.

“Making my debut for Armenia in the Billie Jean King Cup was one of the most special moments of my career,” Avanesyan told billiejanekingcup.com afterwards.

“It meant a lot to finally have that opportunity and to be part of such a successful week for the team. The last year had its ups and downs so being able to contribute to the team and enjoy competing again made this week very special. I enjoyed every minute on court and every moment with the team.

The support, the atmosphere and the pride of playing for Armenia made this an experience I will never forget, and I hope it’s just the beginning of many more Billie Jean King Cup appearances.

Elina Avanesyan

Armenia overcame Estonia 2-0 in the promotion play-offs. Moldova, meanwhile, defeated Malta 2-0 to seal a return to Europe/Africa II for the first time since 2021.

MORE: Everything to know about the Billie Jean King Cup Format in 2026 | Full draw for 2026 BJK Cup Finals

Americas Group III

A total of 10 teams battled for two promotion places from Americas Group III, during the regional qualifiers held at Federacion Salvadorena de Tenis, Santa Tecla in El Salvador.

With the teams divided into two groups of five, only the top two finishers made it to the promotion play-offs.

While hosts El Salvador were unbeaten in the round-robin stage and topped Group A, they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Trinidad & Tobago in the play-offs.


Jordane Dookie, who won four out of her five singles matches during the week, helped Trinidad & Tobago draw level from a 1-0 deficit. Dookie then returned for the doubles contest, and in the company of Anneliese Rose, overcame Michelle Irigoyen & Susana Souhrada 6-0 6-1 in just 44 minutes to help her team progress.

Trinidad & Tobago returned to the BJK Cup in 2024 after a five-year absence and earned promotion in their third year back.

Costa Rica, meanwhile, remained unbeaten through the campaign. After topping Group B, they recovered from a wobble in the second singles to beat Barbados 2-1 overall and regain their place in Americas Group II.

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Hayashen e-Newsletter July 2026

Kalashian Nyrie
Title: Hayashen e-Newsletter July 2026

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Armenpress: Pakistani strikes kill dozens in Afghanistan, Taliban officials sa

Jirair Kafian
World10:33, 29 June 2026
Read the article in: فارسی, Armenian, Russian:

Pakistan launched airstrikes and sent ground troops into Afghan provinces along its border on Sunday, killing dozens of civilians, the BBC reported, citing Taliban officials.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government condemned the “cowardly act” and called it “a crime and atrocity”.

At least 100 people have been killed or wounded, Taliban officials told BBC Pashto.

Twenty-nine militants were killed in strikes targeted at their hideouts, Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said, adding that the strikes were a response to “recent terrorist attacks against innocent people”.

Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harbouring terrorists who carry out attacks on its soil, a claim the Taliban government rejects.

Kabul, in turn, has previously accused Islamabad of carrying out unprovoked attacks in which civilians were killed – though Pakistan says it only targets militants.

The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire last October following weeks of deadly clashes. As with past internationally-mediated truce deals, however, that ceasefire has since fallen apart.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government says the strikes hit civilian homes, while Pakistan says they were targeted at militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces.

Casualties were concentrated in Mandikhel, a village in the Paktika province, Taliban officials say.

The attacks on Sunday come a day after three members of the Sindh Rangers, a Pakistani paramilitary force, were killed at their headquarters in Karachi, according to Pakistan’s military. Three militants also died in the suicide attack, and Pakistani officials said they had arrested a fourth, who was an Afghan.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the TTP, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.

Both the TTP – also known as the Pakistan Taliban – and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar are banned in Pakistan, and by the United Nations, because of their involvement in past attacks.

Intermittent border clashes and airstrikes in the border area have killed dozens of people in recent months, according to officials in both countries.

Read the article in: فارسی, Armenian, Russian:

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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