Pakistan's military on Friday rejected as "baseless" a recent U.N. report that said Pakistani cross-border military operations killed nearly 500 civilians in neighboring Afghanistan. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.

At a televised news conference, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan had targeted only hideouts and infrastructure used by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), and said those killed were militants.

He questioned reports by UNAMA and Amnesty International, saying they relied largely on accounts from Afghans despite restrictions on freedom of expression under Taliban rule.

He also accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of sheltering militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan. "These are double standards," Chaudhry said, asking how many times rights groups had documented civilian casualties from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

UNAMA documented 499 civilians killed and 1,216 wounded in fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Tensions escalated sharply in February when Afghan forces launched a cross-border raid into Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes. Islamabad declared it was in "open war."

Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants, especially the Pakistani Taliban. Afghanistan denies providing sanctuary.

In March, a Pakistani airstrike struck a drug-treatment center in Kabul, killing hundreds of civilians. Amnesty International said the bombing should be investigated as a possible war crime.

Chaudhry defended the strikes, saying Pakistan had carried out operations with precision. He said Pakistan recorded 3,145 "terrorism incidents" since January, killed 2,084 militants, while 819 Pakistanis had been killed. Security forces conducted 40,348 intelligence-based operations.

Chaudhry also said Afghanistan-based militants had carried out 28 suicide attacks in Pakistan since January, most by Afghan nationals. He alleged that drug addicts had been recruited to carry out suicide bombings. "Not every drug addict is a terrorist, but every suicide bomber was a drug addict," he said.

Pakistan launched a new counterterrorism operation earlier this year and will continue the campaign.