The Pakistan army on Monday said eight militants, including a wanted terrorist commander, were “sent to hell” by the forces in an operation in a tribal district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The statement came hours after Afghan authorities claimed that Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside its territory and killed eight persons.

The army said in a statement that on the night of March 17-18, the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan district on the reported presence of terrorists.

“During the conduct of the operation, after intense fire exchange, eight terrorists including HVT (high-value target) Terrorist commander Sehra @Janan were sent to hell,” it said. “He was involved in orchestrating the terrorist attack on Security Forces’ Post in Mir Ali on March 16 and was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies.”

It said that sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area as the security forces remain determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.

The statement came as Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of the government, alleged in a statement that Pakistani aircraft carried out the airstrikes on Afghan soil.