Pakistan says 67 Afghan militants killed in KP, Balochistan as Operation Ghazb lil-Haq continues

Pakistan said on Tuesday that its security forces had repelled multiple attacks by Afghan Taliban militants in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), killing at least 67 insurgents in ongoing operation aimed at curbing cross-border violence.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar provided the figures, saying that in Balochistan, militants carried out assaults on 16 sites in northern districts, including Qilla Saifullah, Noshki, and Chaman, and conducted fire raids at 25 additional locations.

“All attacks were effectively repulsed,” Tarar said, adding that 27 militants were killed and several others wounded. One soldier of the Frontier Corps Balochistan North was killed in action, and five others were injured.

In KP, militants attempted an attack at one location and carried out fire raids at 12 others. Security forces successfully thwarted the assaults without sustaining casualties, Tarar said. Forty militants were killed in overnight operations, and follow-up operations are continuing to eliminate any remaining threats.

The authorities described the offensive, known as Operation Ghazb lil Haq, as one of the most extensive in recent years. It involves coordinated air and ground strikes aimed at dismantling militant strongholds, disrupting operational capabilities, and securing the border region. Analysts say the losses inflicted on the Taliban could weaken their operational capacity and morale.

The escalation follows a wave of violence along the border, including suicide bombings in Pakistan and airstrikes targeting camps of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan last week, which reportedly killed dozens of militants. Pakistan has long accused TTP of operating from Afghan soil - a claim consistently denied by Kabul.

Relations between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban government have been strained since a series of explosions in Kabul in October 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. Multiple rounds of talks in Qatar and Turkey have so far failed to resolve the dispute.

Tarar said a more detailed update on Operation Ghazb lil Haq would be shared later and emphasized that the operation was part of a broader strategy to curb insurgent influence along the border and strengthen regional stability.