More than 600 Afghan Taliban killed as Pakistan continues attacks on Ghazab lil-Haq

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Thursday that at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives have been killed and more than 855 wounded during the ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, launched in response to what Islamabad described as “unprovoked action” from across the Afghan border.

Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched last month following fresh clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, after Afghan Taliban forces fired at multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation by Pakistan.

Neighboring countries have since escalated hostilities along the border. Clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to earlier Pakistani airstrikes on terrorist positions.

In an update shared on his official X account, Tarar said security forces had inflicted heavy losses on militant positions across the border during the operation.

According to the minister, 243 checkpoints used by the Afghan Taliban have so far been destroyed, while another 42 were captured and later destroyed by Pakistani forces.

A total of 219 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were destroyed during the course of the operation, Tarar added.

He further claimed that Pakistani forces carried out air operations targeting multiple terrorist sites across Afghanistan.

“Sixty-five locations across Afghanistan were effectively attacked from the air,” Tarar said.

According to the state broadcaster Radio Pakistanarmed forces continue retaliatory attacks against Afghan Taliban fighters and militants described as Fitna al-Khawarij.

Security sources said Pakistani army units attacked several Afghan Taliban posts in the Zhob sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The attacks forced Afghan Taliban fighters to withdraw from their positions, abandoning posts and leaving weapons behind during the operation.

Security officials said Pakistani troops seized Russian-made 73mm HGL-9 heavy grenade launchers in positions formerly occupied by the Afghan Taliban regime.

In a separate action, Pakistan Army forces attacked and destroyed another Afghan Taliban outpost along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, adjacent to the Shawal area in North Waziristan.

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.

Read more: 13 terrorists killed in intelligence operations across KP territory

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.