133 killed in Afghanistan as Pakistan launches Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq after border clashes

Pakistan launched a large-scale military operation, Ghazab-lil-Haq, late Thursday in response to renewed violence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Pakistani officials said the strikes targeted forces aligned with the Afghan Taliban regime, resulting in at least 133 fatalities on the Afghan side.

Heavy toll on Afghan Taliban

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, told reporters in the early hours of Friday that Pakistani counter-strikes continued, with “133 Afghan Taliban confirmed killed, more than 200 wounded and many more casualties estimated in strikes on military targets in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar.”

Zaidi added that a total of 27 Afghan Taliban posts had been destroyed and nine captured. In addition, Pakistani strikes destroyed two corps headquarters, three brigade headquarters, two ammunition depots, one logistics base, three battalion headquarters, two sector headquarters, and more than 80 tanks, artillery pieces, and armed personnel carriers.

Pakistan Information Minister Ataullah Tarar confirmed the casualty figures, describing the response as "immediate and effective"

'Open war' with Afghanistan

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the country was in an "open war" with Afghanistan, declaring that Islamabad's patience had run out as tensions escalated overnight, with both sides reporting heavy losses.

"Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you (Afghanistan)," he said.

Iran steps in to mediate

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X on Friday that, during the holy month of Ramadan, “it is appropriate for Afghanistan and Pakistan to address and resolve their differences through dialogue and within the framework of good neighborliness.”

He added that Iran is ready to assist in facilitating talks and promoting greater understanding and cooperation between the two countries.

Pakistani forces continue operations

Pakistan’s state broadcaster, Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), reported that Pakistani forces remained engaged along the border in response to what it described as “unprovoked aggression” by the Afghan Taliban.

Citing security sources, PTV said Pakistani troops destroyed a Taliban logistics base in Kandahar and targeted key military installations in Paktika, including a corps headquarters. Night-time footage broadcast by the channel showed Pakistan Air Force jets patrolling Kandahar skies following the air strikes.

In Kandahar, security sources said a corps headquarters, a brigade headquarters, an ammunition depot, and a logistics base were destroyed. A corps headquarters in Paktia was also reportedly targeted.

Islamabad blames Afghan Taliban

Pakistani authorities said Taliban fighters opened fire across multiple sectors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa frontier on Thursday, prompting a robust counter-offensive. Security officials said no Pakistani posts were captured or damaged during the clashes.

“The armed forces are fully prepared to safeguard the country’s security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” Prime Minister Sharif said in a statement.

“Under the leadership of Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defense Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, our forces are performing their duties with professional expertise and national commitment. There will be no compromise on the defence of the homeland.”

Sharif added that Pakistan has “always promoted peace” but would counter any aggression firmly.

'Afghanistan does not seek war'

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, announced large-scale offensive operations targeting Pakistani military centers and installations along the border, describing the actions as a response to repeated alleged “rebellions” within certain Pakistani military circles.

In a post on X, Mujahid said that while Afghanistan “does not seek war, it has been targeted by Pakistan”. “We have the means to defend ourselves,” he said, warning that if the Afghan people are fully mobilized, controlling them would be impossible.

Mujahid warned that if Pakistan continues its operations, the Taliban could target key sites within Pakistani territory.

Clashes' timeline

Last week, Pakistan carried out airstrikes targeting camps of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan, following a series of attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad.

Pakistani security sources reported that more than 80 militants were killed in the strikes.

Pakistan has long maintained that the TTP leaders operate from Afghan soil, a claim that Kabul has consistently denied.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated following a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year, which prompted Taliban forces to attack areas along Pakistan’s border. In response, Islamabad carried out cross-border shelling, causing casualties and infrastructure damage on both sides and leading to the suspension of trade as border crossings were closed on October 12.

Since then, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have held multiple rounds of negotiations in Qatar and Turkey, but the talks have so far failed to produce a resolution.