Pakistani airstrikes kill 572 Afghan Taliban, wound more than 755 during ‘Op Ghazb lil Haq’: Tarar

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday that 527 Afghan Taliban operatives were killed and more than 755 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 237 checkpoints had been destroyed and another 38 captured by Pakistani security forces.

“During the operation, 205 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery pieces were also destroyed,” he said.

The minister added that 62 locations across Afghanistan were indeed targeted by airstrikes.

Meanwhile, the state Radio Pakistan reported that ground and air operations of the Pakistan Armed Forces were indeed underway against the Afghan Taliban and Fitna-al-Khwarij.

According to security sources, the Pakistan Army destroyed several posts with heavy artillery fire in the Kurram sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in a successful operation against the Afghan Taliban.

Read more: “Ghazab Lil Haq will not stop without guarantees”

The military also destroyed terrorist hideouts adjacent to the Zhob and Qila Saifullah sectors.

“According to security sources, the Afghan Taliban were forced to flee their posts during the effective operation of the Pakistani army,” the report said.

Speaking to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa journalists in Rawalpindi a day ago, security officials maintained that Pakistan had no problem with Afghanistan or its people, but noted that the Afghan Taliban regime had become a “proxy master” facilitating multiple terrorist groups, posing a threat to regional peace and stability.

They said Afghan Taliban leaders would have to choose between maintaining relations with Pakistan or continuing to support terrorist groups.

They described Operation Ghazab Lil Haq as a continuation of Pakistan’s broader war on terrorism, adding that it would continue until there were credible assurances and practical steps by the Afghan Taliban regime to end patronage of terrorists.

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.