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Pakistan launches Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq against Afghanistan after hours of heavy border clashes

Pakistan’s armed forces target key Afghan military installations in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia; 72 Afghan Taliban combatants terminated, more than 120 injured

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Pakistan launches Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq against Afghanistan after hours of heavy border clashes

A screengrab of a border area hit during clashes between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces on the night of February 26, 2022.

Courtesy: Pakistani security sources

Pakistan’s security forces launched what they are calling 'Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq' late Thursday night in response to renewed violence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border after clashes with forces aligned with the Afghan Taliban regime.

As per updates provided by state television at 3:00 a.m., Pakistan’s armed forces carried out airstrikes targeting key military installations of the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, security sources said.

According to the sources, the Pakistan Air Force destroyed two brigade headquarters in Kabul during the latest round of strikes.

In Kandahar, a corps headquarters and a brigade headquarters were reportedly destroyed, along with an ammunition depot and a logistics base. Security sources further claimed that a corps headquarters in Paktia was also targeted and destroyed during the operation.

As per official updates from Pakistan Prime Minister's Spokesperson to the Foreign Media, Mosharraf Zaidi, "A total of 72 Afghan Taliban combatants have been terminated, more than 120 have been injured. Sixteen (16) Afghan Taliban posts have been destroyed and seven (7) Afghan Taliban posts have been captured. A large ammunition depot, an Afghan Taliban battalion headquarters and an Afghan Taliban sector headquarters have been destroyed. So far, more than thirty six (36) tanks, artillery guns and armored personnel carriers have been destroyed."

Islamabad says Afghan Taliban fighters opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa frontier on Thursday, prompting a robust counter-offensive by Pakistani troops that targeted Taliban positions and installations.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting described the response as "immediate and effective", with Afghan fighters suffering heavy casualties and several hostile posts and equipment destroyed.

Security sources say the operation involved coordinated strikes along border sectors, including Chitral, Bajaur, Tirah in Khyber, Mohmand and other areas. Officials also highlighted that no Pakistani posts were captured or damaged in the exchanges and reiterated the commitment of Pakistan’s forces to defend territorial integrity.

The Ministry’s statement, amplified on the social media platform X, reiterated that any aggression from the Afghan side would be met with decisive action.

‘No compromise on defence of homeland’

In a statement released by his office, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said: “The people of Pakistan and the armed forces are fully prepared at all times to safeguard the country’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The armed forces of Pakistan are determined that under no circumstances will they allow any harm to come to the nation’s peace and security, his statement added.

“Our forces possess the full capability to crush any aggressive designs.

“Under the leadership of Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the armed forces are performing their duties with a strong sense of national commitment,” the premier added.

Shehbaz said the armed forces were equipped with professional expertise, high-level training and effective defence strategies, and were fully capable of confronting any internal or external challenge.

“There will be no compromise on the defence of the homeland, and every act of aggression will be met with a strong and decisive response,” he said.

His statement added that, “Pakistan has always promoted peace; however, no harm will be allowed to come to the country’s integrity, and the armed forces will firmly counter any aggression. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces of Pakistan.”

'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.

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