Pakistan's Information Minister Atta Ullah Tarar updated on Saturday that the ongoing Operation Ghazb lil-Haq has resulted in more significant losses to Afghan Taliban forces.
According to Minister Tarar, the operation has dealt a decisive setback to insurgent activities across the region.
- 352 Taliban fighters killed
- Over 535 injured
- 130 check posts destroyed
- 26 posts captured
- 171 tanks and armed vehicles destroyed
- 41 strategic locations across Afghanistan targeted by air strikes
The operation, aimed at dismantling Taliban strongholds and disrupting their operational capabilities, involved coordinated ground and air strikes. Air power was effectively utilized to target multiple Taliban positions, resulting in the destruction of critical infrastructure and vehicles.
Officials highlighted that the operation is part of a broader strategy to curb insurgent influence along the border and secure regional stability. Analysts suggest that the heavy losses suffered by the Taliban could significantly impact their operational capacity and morale.
The Taliban, an insurgent group maintaining a strong presence in Afghanistan, has been responsible for numerous attacks against both civilian and military targets. Pakistan’s military has periodically launched targeted operations to neutralize threats and prevent cross-border infiltration.
Pakistan gave 'befitting response'
Addressing a press briefing over Operation Ghazab lil-Haq a day earlier Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated that Pakistan “gave a befitting response to the Afghan Taliban regime’s actions from last night”.
Calling Afghanistan the central sponsor behind militant groups operating in the region, the army spokesperson said “this master proxy” mobilized overnight in coordination with fighters belonging to what he described as “Fitna al Khawarij” (Arabic for the Strife of the Seceders) – terrorists of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The DG ISPR delivered a strong warning, saying those responsible for terrorist attacks in Pakistan “will find no safe haven anywhere.”
Operation Ghazab lil-Haq
Operation Ghazb lil-Haq represents one of the most extensive offensives in recent years, signaling Pakistan’s commitment to confronting insurgent networks directly.
The operation was launched on Thursday night in response to renewed violence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border for a second time this week.
The escalation came in light of Pakistan’s last week’s 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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