Over 600 Afghan Taliban killed as Pakistan continues Ghazab lil-Haq strikes

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday said at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives have been killed and more than 855 injured during the ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, launched in response to what Islamabad described as “unprovoked action” from across the Afghan border.

Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched last month following renewed clashes along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, after Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation by Pakistan.

The neighbouring countries have been engaged in escalating hostilities along the frontier since then. The clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to earlier Pakistani air strikes targeting terrorist positions.

In an update shared on his official X account, Tarar said security forces had inflicted heavy losses on militant positions across the border during the operation.

According to the minister, 243 check posts used by Afghan Taliban operatives have been destroyed so far, while another 42 were captured and subsequently destroyed by Pakistani forces.

A total of 219 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns were destroyed during the course of the operation, Tarar added.

He further stated that Pakistani forces carried out air operations targeting multiple terrorist sites across Afghanistan.

“Sixty-five locations across Afghanistan were effectively targeted by air,” Tarar said.

According to state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, armed forces are continuing retaliatory strikes against Afghan Taliban fighters and militants described as Fitna al-Khawarij.

Security sources said Pakistan Army units targeted several Afghan Taliban posts in the Zhob sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The strikes forced Afghan Taliban fighters to retreat from their positions, abandoning posts and leaving behind weapons during the operation.

Security officials said Pakistani troops seized Russian-made 73mm HGL-9 heavy grenade launchers from positions previously held by the Afghan Taliban regime.

In a separate action, Pakistan Army forces targeted and destroyed another Afghan Taliban post along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border adjacent to the Shawal area of North Waziristan.

The latest escalation in tensions between the two countries follows a series of tit-for-tat actions over the past year.

Pakistan earlier carried out air strikes targeting camps of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province inside Afghanistan after a wave of attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad.

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Pakistani security sources said more than 80 terrorists were killed in those strikes. The strikes prompted attacks by Afghanistan along the border, leading to the breakout of the latest round of open conflict.

Islamabad has long maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory, an allegation that Kabul has repeatedly denied.

Tensions also surged after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year. Taliban forces subsequently targeted areas along Pakistan’s border, prompting Islamabad to respond with cross-border shelling. The exchanges caused casualties and infrastructure damage on both sides and led to the suspension of trade after border crossings were closed on October 12, 2025.