Operation Ghazab-Lil-Haq to continue until Taliban end terror support: Security sources

Security sources said the ongoing operation Ghazab Lil Haq would continue until “credible assurances and concrete steps” from the Afghan Taliban to end their support for terrorists against the Pakistan-ruled Radio Pakistan reported Thursday.

Pakistan is currently conducting ‘Operation Ghazab Lil Haq’ which was launched late last Thursday following renewed clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as Afghan Taliban forces fired at several locations, prompting swift military retaliation. The neighbors have clashed along the border since last week, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani airstrikes.

The Defense Chief and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir said a day ago that all necessary measures would be taken to neutralize the threat of terrorism emanating from across the border. He said the use of Afghan soil for acts of terrorism was unacceptable, adding that peace could prevail between the two sides only if the Afghan Taliban renounced their support for terrorism and terrorist organizations.

Radio Pakistan reported that in a briefing to journalists from various districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa at the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) headquarters regarding the ongoing operation, “it was told that Operation Ghazab Lil Haq is a continuation of Pakistan’s ongoing war against terrorism and will continue until there are credible assurances and concrete steps from the Afghan Taliban regime to end terrorism.”

Security sources said Pakistan had no problem with Afghanistan or its people, adding that its only concern was the Afghan Taliban regime, which they said acted as a “central proxy master of terrorism in the region”.

They added that the regime had become a threat to regional peace and stability by facilitating several militant organizations.

“The Afghan Taliban regime will have to choose between Pakistan and patronage of terrorist groups,” the report said.

The security sources said that the killing of innocent civilians, violence against women and attacks on mosques or their use for terrorist activities were against Pakistan’s religious and social traditions, stressing that terrorists were promoting a “distorted and self-made interpretation” of Islam, while the religion had nothing to do with terrorism or suicide attacks.

“Scholars of all schools have declared the fight against these elements and their facilitators as a form of righteous jihad.”

According to the report, the security sources briefed the gathered journalists that Pakistan was targeting hideouts, facilitation centers and cross-border launch pads of terrorist groups, while rejecting reports suggesting that civilians were being targeted, describing such claims as contrary to facts.

“All operations are conducted strictly on the basis of verified intelligence and are only targeting terrorist infrastructure,” the security sources said.

They noted that the Ministry of Information and Security Institutions regularly briefed the media and the public on the progress of the operation and released verified video reports, while claiming that false rumors were spread by Afghan official social media and Indian-backed media during the operation

According to the report, the security sources said groups facing persecution under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan had welcomed the operation, adding that intelligence-based operations were also continuing in Pakistan.

“The security forces updated that in addition to operations against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan, intelligence-based operations are continuing in Pakistan, with more than 200 such operations being successfully conducted on a daily basis,” the report said.

The security sources stressed that national unity and full implementation of the National Action Plan were essential to eliminate terrorism.

“It was said that Pakistan believes in constructive and positive relations with all countries and remains fully prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Those who consider Pakistan’s security threatened in the context of the situation in Iran and the wider region are living in a fool’s paradise,” the report said.

A senior Pakistani security official had similarly said on Monday that the operation would continue until the Afghan Taliban government gave a guarantee that it would stop facilitating terror groups targeting Pakistan.

On the issue of Iran, the official had dismissed suggestions that Pakistan could be the next target in the regional escalation, calling such claims “baseless and contrary to ground reality”. He added that Pakistan and Iran could not be considered identical in terms of military capability, foreign policy or internal affairs.

He had said that Pakistan remained committed to a strong foreign policy based on mutual respect and trust and was fully capable of defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Operational Updates

separately, Radio Pakistan also reported, citing security sources, that the Pakistan Army destroyed the Afghan Taliban’s brigade headquarters of the 205 Corps in Kandahar in a successful airstrike.

Read: CDF Munir says all necessary measures must be taken to neutralize the threat from the Afghan border

“Pakistan Army also targeted Afghan Taliban ammunition depots in this effective operation. The sources said that Afghan Taliban are facing heavy military casualties in effective and powerful operations by Pakistan Army,” the report added.

It also said the Afghan Taliban had suffered heavy military casualties during the ongoing operations, with the army last night targeting 41 enemy positions with small and heavy weapons.

It added that the strikes were carried out in border areas adjacent to Chaman, Zhob, Qila Saifullah and Nushki sectors with reports of “heavy casualties and material losses” to the Afghan Taliban and TTP during the operations.

It added that in a separate intelligence-based operation in the Arandu sector, the military carried out operations against an armed formation of the Afghan Taliban.

It quoted security sources as saying that the “cowardly Afghan Taliban were forced to abandon their weapons at the posts and flee” due to the army’s “vigorous operation”.

The sources added that the Afghan Taliban center was also completely destroyed during the operation.

“The security sources said that operations under Ghazab Lil Haq will continue until the set objectives are fully achieved,” the report said.

Russia calls for dialogue

Meanwhile, Russia expressed concern over the ongoing fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and urged both countries to avoid military confrontation.

In a statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was concerned by reports of clashes along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

“In recent days, there have been reports of armed clashes involving aircraft and heavy weapons across virtually the entire border area inhabited by Pashtun tribes,” she said.

Zakharova added that there had been casualties on both sides and that civilians were suffering, including Afghan refugees who had returned from neighboring Pakistan and Iran.

“We once again call on Kabul and Islamabad to refrain from military confrontation and resolve their differences through dialogue based on mutual respect,” she said.