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

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Thursday that at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives have been killed and more than 855 wounded 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 at several locations, prompting swift military retaliation from Pakistan.

The neighboring countries have since then been engaged in escalating hostilities along the border. Clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to earlier Pakistani airstrikes targeting terrorist positions.

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

According to the minister, 243 checkpoints 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, armored vehicles and artillery guns were destroyed during the operation, Tarar added.

He further stated that Pakistani forces were conducting air operations targeting several terrorist sites in Afghanistan.

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

According to state television Radio Pakistanarmed forces continue retaliatory attacks against Afghan Taliban fighters and militants described as Fitna al-Khawarij.

Security sources said Pakistani army units targeted several Afghan Taliban positions in the Zhob sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The attacks forced Afghan Taliban fighters to withdraw from their positions, abandon positions and leave behind weapons during the operation.

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

In a separate operation, Pakistani 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 of tensions between the two countries follows a series of bumbling actions over the past year.

Pakistan has previously carried out airstrikes targeting camps of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan province inside Afghanistan following a spate of attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad.

Read more: 13 terrorists killed in intelligence-based operations across KP

Pakistani security sources said that more than 80 terrorists were killed in these attacks. The attacks led to attacks from Afghanistan along the border, sparking the latest round of open conflict.

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

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