Pakistan attacks Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Fitna al-Khawarij camps in Afghanistan during Operation Ghazab Lil Haq

Security forces carried out precision strikes on terror camps and associated safe havens Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khawarij in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces. The attacks were carried out under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq on the night of June 28-29, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Monday.

In a post on X, Tarar said the strikes eliminated terrorists and destroyed weapons and ammunition caches.

In a statement on Sunday, Tarar said security forces were continuing the operation Ghazab Lil Haq after a series of terrorist attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan and on a Sindh Rangers camp in Karachi.

Two days ago, security forces foiled a terrorist attack on a Sindh Rangers camp in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. Three Rangers personnel were martyred and four others were injured during the assault, while three terrorists were killed and another, identified as an Afghan national, was captured in an injured condition. The military attributed the attack Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and vowed to continue operations against those responsible.

Tarar’s statement on Sunday stated that security forces first conducted an intelligence-based operation on the ground near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Bajaur district on June 28, killing four militants, including alleged high-value commander Khan Farosh alias Zabal. Several other terrorists were injured.

Read: Caught terrorist lifts lid on cross-border plot

It added that the operation was followed by precision strikes on three terrorist targets in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar on the night of June 28-29. According to Tarar, 25 terrorists were killed in these strikes, bringing the total number of militants killed during the operation to 29. The statement also noted that large quantities of arms and ammunition stored in the targeted camps and hideouts were destroyed.

“Pakistan has always endeavored to maintain peace and stability in the region, but at the same time will not compromise on the safety and security of our citizens, which remains our top priority,” Tarar said. He added that Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign during Azm-e-Istehkam the strategy would proceed “at full speed to eradicate the threat of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”

Fitna al-Khawarij is the state-designated term for the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is one of the group’s breakaway factions.

Read more: EU, UK envoys support Pakistan in fight against TTP

Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan started in October, killing many on both sides, with the Afghans taking the lead. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring militants who launch attacks in Pakistan, although Kabul denies this, calling the militancy Islamabad’s domestic problem.

Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched around the end of February following renewed clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border after Afghan Taliban forces fired at several locations, prompting swift military retaliation from Pakistan.

Clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani airstrikes targeting terrorist positions. The two sides had agreed to a week-long ceasefire on the eve of Eidul Fitr on March 18 following requests from Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Pakistan in April made three core demands to the Afghan Taliban during peace talks in Urumqi, China, including Kabul formally declaring the TTP a terrorist organization, dismantling its infrastructure and providing verifiable evidence of the action. The demands form the basis of Pakistan’s negotiating position, which sources say has hardened amid ongoing security concerns.

In the latest development, Pakistan carried out “precision strikes” along the border targeting terror hideouts, killing 26 Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists in response to recent terrorist attacks in the country.