Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday that 527 Afghan Taliban operatives have been killed and more than 755 injured during the ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, launched in response to “unprovoked action” from across the Afghan border.
'Operation Ghazab Lil Haq' was launched late on Thursday after renewed clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, when Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation. The neighbours have clashed along the frontier since last week, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani air strikes.
Islamabad said its February air strikes that sparked the escalation were targeting terrorists. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against terrorist groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government rejects. The border fighting has hit multiple Afghan provinces. The violence of recent days is the worst since the October fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides, with land borders between the neighbours largely shut since.
Providing a summary of the Afghan Taliban regime’s losses as of 4pm today, the information minister said 237 check posts had been destroyed and 38 others captured by Pakistani security forces.