Tarar says 198 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed during the operation.
A Pakistani soldier on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. PHOTO: AFP
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that 481 Afghan Taliban operatives were killed and more than 696 wounded during the ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, launched in response to “unprovoked measures” from across the Afghan border.
‘Operation Ghazab Lil Haq’ was launched on Thursday night after fresh clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation. The neighbors have clashed along the border since last week, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani airstrikes.
Islamabad said its February airstrikes that sparked the escalation targeted terrorists. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against terrorist groups carrying out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government rejects. Border fighting has affected several Afghan provinces. The violence of recent days is the worst since fighting in October killed more than 70 people on both sides, and land borders between the neighbors have since been virtually closed.
Providing a summary of the Afghan Taliban regime’s losses as of 4pm today, the Information Minister said 226 checkpoints had been destroyed and another 35 captured by Pakistani security forces.
“During the operation, 198 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery pieces were also destroyed,” he said.
The minister added that 56 locations across Afghanistan were indeed targeted by airstrikes.
✅Operation Ghazb lil Haq
✅Update 1600 hours March 4✅ Summary of Afghan Taliban losses
▪️481 murdered,
▪️696 + Injured
▪️226 Check Destroyed Posts
▪️35 posts captured
▪️198 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns destroyed
▪️56 locations throughout Afghanistan effectively…– Attaullah Tarar (@TararAttaullah) March 4, 2026
Also read: Pakistan launches cross-border attacks on seven terrorist camps after attacks
The latest escalation of tensions between the two countries follows a series of tit-for-tat actions over the past year.
Pakistan previously carried out airstrikes against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) camps and the Islamic State’s Khorasan province inside Afghanistan after a wave of attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad.
Pakistani security sources said more than 80 terrorists were killed in those attacks. The attacks prompted attacks by Afghanistan along the border, sparking the latest round of open conflict.
Islamabad has long maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory, a charge Kabul has repeatedly denied.
Tensions also rose after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year. Taliban forces subsequently attacked areas along the border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to respond with cross-border bombings. The exchanges caused casualties and damage to infrastructure on both sides and led to the suspension of trade after the closure of border crossings on October 12, 2025.
