ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s retaliatory military campaign against Afghan Taliban positions has entered its eighth day, with Islamabad saying its forces have inflicted significant battlefield losses under Operation Ghazab lil Haq following repeated cross-border attacks.
Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said at least 527 Afghan Taliban combatants and affiliated terrorists have been killed and more than 755 injured since the operation began.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, Tarar said Pakistani forces had carried out sustained strikes on terrorist positions across Afghanistan as part of a coordinated military response.
According to the latest operational update, 237 Taliban check posts have been destroyed, while 38 additional posts were captured and subsequently demolished by Pakistani forces.
Tarar added that 205 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns belonging to Afghan Taliban forces were destroyed during the course of the operation.
He also said 62 locations across Afghanistan were effectively targeted through air operations, describing the strikes as part of Pakistan’s effort to dismantle infrastructure used to launch attacks across the border.
Earlier, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry described the operation as a “measured and proportionate response” to what Pakistan says were unprovoked attacks originating from Afghan territory.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has also defended the military action. During a weekly press briefing last week, spokesperson Tahir Andrabi characterized the engagement as an “effective and forceful response” aimed at safeguarding Pakistan’s territorial integrity.
The fighting along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border has drawn international attention as hostilities intensify across the frontier region.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also expressed concern over the escalation. In a statement on March 4, spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow was “concerned about the ongoing fighting along the Afghan-Pakistani border.”
She called on both countries “to resolve their differences through dialogue based on mutual respect.”
Pakistani officials, however, maintain that the objective of Operation Ghazab lil Haq remains the neutralization of terrorist threats emanating from across the border and the protection of Pakistan’s sovereignty and security.
.webp)
