Pakistan Reports Heavy Afghan Taliban Losses in Operation Ghazab Lil Haq
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced on Thursday that Pakistani security forces have inflicted substantial damage on Afghan Taliban operatives during the ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq. According to official updates, at least 641 Afghan Taliban fighters have been killed and more than 855 injured in the military campaign, which was launched in response to what Islamabad termed "unprovoked action" from across the Afghan border.
Operation Details and Casualty Figures
Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was initiated last month following renewed clashes along the Pakistan–Afghanistan frontier. The conflict escalated after Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple Pakistani locations, prompting swift military retaliation. In a detailed update shared on his official X account, Tarar provided a comprehensive summary of the operation's impact on militant infrastructure and personnel.
The minister reported that security forces have destroyed 243 check posts used by Afghan Taliban operatives, with an additional 42 posts captured and subsequently demolished by Pakistani forces. Furthermore, a total of 219 tanks, armoured vehicles, and artillery guns were neutralized during the course of the operation. Tarar emphasized that Pakistani forces conducted air operations targeting multiple terrorist sites across Afghanistan, with 65 locations effectively struck from the air.
Recent Military Actions and Border Clashes
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 indicated that Pakistan Army units targeted several Afghan Taliban posts in the Zhob sector along the border. These strikes forced Afghan Taliban fighters to retreat from their positions, abandoning posts and leaving behind weapons, including Russian-made 73mm HGL-9 heavy grenade launchers seized by Pakistani troops.
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 ongoing hostilities represent a significant escalation in tensions between the two neighbouring countries, which have been engaged in escalating conflicts along the frontier since the operation began.
Background of Escalating Tensions
The latest round of open conflict 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. Security sources reported that more than 80 terrorists were killed in those strikes, which prompted retaliatory attacks by Afghanistan along the border.
Islamabad has consistently maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory, an allegation that Kabul has repeatedly denied. Tensions further surged after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year, leading to Taliban forces targeting areas along Pakistan’s border. Islamabad responded with cross-border shelling, resulting in casualties and infrastructure damage on both sides. The exchanges led to the suspension of trade after border crossings were closed on October 12, 2025.
The ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq underscores the deepening military engagement between Pakistan and Afghan Taliban forces, with significant casualties and material losses reported on both sides of the border.
