'Righteous Fury': Operation Ghazab lil-Haq

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that during Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, 641 Afghan Taliban operatives had been killed while more than 855 had been injured.

In a post on X, he said 243 checkposts had been destroyed, and 42 had been captured and subsequently destroyed.

He said that 219 tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery guns had also been destroyed while 65 locations across Afghanistan were “effectively” targeted by air.

Security sources stated that Pakistam’s armed forces had targeted Afghan Taliban posts on the border adjacent to Shawwal, a subdivision of North Waziristan.

Security sources said that the operation was ongoing and would continue until its objectives were achieved.

State-run Radio Pakistan has stated that Pakistan’s Armed forces are continuing their effective retaliatory attacks against the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij.

According to the security sources, Pakistan Army targeted Afghan Taliban posts in Zhob sector along the Pak-Afghan border, it said.

“This timely and decisive action forced the Afghan Taliban to retreat, abandoning their posts and weapons. The Army also captured Russian-made 73 mm HGL-9 heavy grenade launchers from Afghan Taliban-held positions,” it added.

Tensions continue along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district as heavy artillery fire has been exchanged between forces on both sides, according to sources.

Officials say that four mortar shells were fired from the Afghan side earlier this evening.

One shell landed inside the Frontier Corps camp in Faqirabad in Khwezai tehsil, while the remaining three shells struck near a civilian settlement in Mamad Kor, according to sources.

No casualties have been reported in the salvo.

Official sources dismissed on Tuesday reports that a three-member delegation sent by the government was holding talks with the Afghan Taliban in Kabul amid border tensions.

The sources noted that “Afghan propaganda accounts” had been making such claims on social media.

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The Pakistan Army has destroyed “important posts and centres” during a timely operation in the Arandu and Kurram sectors, security sources said, according to PTV News.

The security sources added that the “cowardly Afghan Taliban” were forced to flee the posts due to the “effective attacks and retaliatory actions”.

As per the sources, the armed forces were targeting the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij’s “hideouts and only military installations”.

There are reports of suspected militants carrying out a late-night grenade and gun attack on a police post near Atta Bazaar in the Khwezai area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district, located along the Pak-Afghan border.

According to police sources, unidentified attackers hurled a hand grenade and opened fire on the Muharrar police post late on Sunday night. Police personnel stationed at the post responded with immediate retaliatory fire, the sources said.

Following the brief exchange of gunfire, the attackers fled the scene under the cover of darkness, the sources said.

Security in the area has been tightened, and all police posts in the district have been placed on high alert as a precautionary measure, they added.

Mortar shells have reportedly been fired in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district from Afghanistan, according to police sources.

Police officials told Dawn that reports of two mortar shells having been fired from across the border were received at the Baizai police station at around 3:10am om Monday.

They said the shells landed at some distance from a Frontier Corps post and Atam Kalay police checkpost.

The officials said no casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.

Heavy exchange of fire continued between the two sides from early morning till afternoon in the border areas near Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan, local sources say.

Due to the ongoing clashes and fear among residents, people from nearby villages have started migrating to safer areas, while the situation in the border belt remains tense.

It is worth mentioning that incidents of cross-border firing and tensions have occurred intermittently at different points along the Pak-Afghan border, often affecting civilians living in nearby areas.

The Ghulam Khan border crossing in North Waziristan is an important route for trade and travel between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, the crossing currently remains completely closed due to the prevailing security situation.

The death toll from a mortar shell allegedly fired from the Afghan side falling in the Ghulam Khan area in North Waziristan has risen to two, with three others injured, officials say.

According to police sources, the incident occurred at around 7:30pm on Sunday when heavy firing erupted between forces on both sides of the border in the Ghulam Khan area. During the exchange of fire, a mortar shell fired from across the border fell in the nearby village of Golakhel and exploded in a residential locality.

As a result of the explosion, 10-year-old Matiullah died on the spot while four other people sustained injuries and were taken to the Miranshah Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.

Hospital sources said that 12-year-old Noor Wali, who had been critically injured in the blast, succumbed to his wounds today, raising the death toll to two.

Doctors said some of the injured remain in critical condition, while medical staff continue to provide emergency treatment.

The armed forces have carried out a “successful operation, completely destroying” the ammunition depot at Shaheen Base in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, security sources say, according to Radio Pakistan.

“Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij hideouts and military installations are being targeted along the Pak-Afghan border,” the report added.

The Pakistan Army has targeted an Afghan Taliban post adjacent to Shawal in South Waziristan, Radio Pakistan reports, citing security sources.

“As a result, Afghan Taliban and Fitna-al-Khawarij were forced to flee,” the report said, adding that the Afghan Taliban post was destroyed using explosives.

“Pakistan Army is effectively continuing retaliatory actions against Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij under Operation Ghazab Lil-Haq,” the report affirmed.

The district administration in Dera Ismail Khan has imposed Section 144 in view of the prevailing law and order situation, restricting movement on several roads and in sensitive areas, according to an official notification.

Deputy Commissioner Abdul Nasir Khan says the restrictions will remain in force from 6am to 6pm, during which the movement of passenger vehicles, cargo transport and motorcycles will be completely prohibited in designated areas.

However, the notification said emergency services including ambulances, fire brigade vehicles and law enforcement agencies would be exempt from the restrictions.

Pakistan forces have so far killed 583 Afghan Taliban operatives and destroyed 242 of their checkposts during the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, according to details shared by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.

As of 4pm on March 8 (today), 795 Afghan Taliban operatives have been injured during the operation, 38 of their posts have been captured and destroyed, 213 of their tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns have been destroyed and 64 locations across Afghanistan have been “effectively targeted by air”, the information minister said in a post on X.

The Pakistan armed forces have thwarted an infiltration attempt by terrorists of the Fitna al Khawarij along the Pak-Afghan border in Chaman, according to security sources.

Security sources said that three to four terrorists attempted to infiltrate the border area in Chaman; however, security forces “effectively engaged the targets”.

One terrorist was killed in an exchange of fire while others managed to escape injured” as per security sources.

Four to five improvised explosive devices and fence-cutting equipment were recovered from the slain terrorist, said security sources.

Security forces have killed 13 terrorists in five separate operations across KP, the ISPR says.

According to ISPR, five terrorists were killed in the Bajaur district after an intense fire exchange when troops “effectively engaged the khawarij location” during an intelligence-based operation (IBO).

In two other encounters in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts, three terrorists “belonging to Indian proxy Fitna Al Khawarij were successfully neutralised”, the press release said.

“Simultaneously, in two separate engagements in Khyber and South Waziristan districts, own troops effectively neutralised five more khawarij,” it added.

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The Khyber district administration has distributed relief goods among 25 families displaced from Bacha Maina and Pasedkhel areas.

Most of these families have taken shelter in the century-old railway tunnels with very limited living facilities.

Some of the families in Sadukhel and Zargaran localities have shifted to Peshawar, where they had rented homes for temporary living.

Fear and panic have gripped the residents of Khyber district’s Landi Kotal as more mortar shells fired from Afghanistan side landed in different parts of the region.

Residents in Landi Kotal said that it was the third consecutive night that they had not slept well due to intense cross-border artillery firing and fear of being targeted.

Officials said that at least two shells each fell in open compounds in Bacha Maina, Adalkhad, Loe Shalman and Wali Khel areas, as well as near Hamza Baba Mausoleum.

An office of a customs clearing agent was partially damaged when it was hit by an artillery shell in Torkham overnight.

Jamshed Khan, a resident of Zargaran Kali, said that women and children of their locality were the most affected as they could not move out of their houses despite repeated artillery shelling and the noise of mortars flying overhead at night.

He said that the situation during the day was comparatively better, but nights were the most disturbing and scary.

The security forces’ operations along the Pak-Afghan border in North and South Waziristan have “sent multiple Afghan Taliban to hell” and destroyed many terrorist posts, security sources say.

They said the army conducted a “successful operation against the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij” in those areas, which destroyed “many” of their posts and forced them to abandon their positions and flee.

“The Afghan Taliban forces are facing heavy losses in the Pakistan Army’s strong and powerful response,” a source said.

“Several posts” of the Afghan Taliban have been destroyed during an aerial operation carried out by the armed forces along the Pak-Afghan border in North Waziristan, security sources say.

“The cowardly enemy was forced to leave its posts and flee during the effective operation of the Pakistan Army,” said a source.

Another security source said the Afghan Taliban had to face “heavy losses and defeat due to the Pakistan Army’s effective plan of action”.

The sources said Operation Ghazab lil-Haq will continue till its goals are achieved.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that 527 Afghan Taliban operatives were killed while more than 755 had been injured.

In a post on X, he said that 237 checkposts had been destroyed, and 38 posts had been captured and subsequently destroyed. He further said that 205 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed while 62 locations across Afghanistan were “effectively targeted by air”.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk implored Pakistan and Afghanistan to end the fighting.

“Civilians on both sides of the border are now having to flee from airstrikes, heavy artillery fire, mortar shelling and gunfire,” Turk said.

“I plead with all parties to bring an end to the conflict, and to prioritise helping those experiencing extreme hardship,” he said in a statement issued in Geneva, a copy of which was made available to Dawn.

Citing security sources, state-run PTV said in a post on X that armed forces had destroyed terrorist hideouts adjacent to the Pak-Afghan border in the Zhob and Qila Saifullah sectors.

The sources said that during the Pakistan Army’s effective operation, the Afghan Taliban were forced to abandon their posts and flee.

The Pakistan armed forces have destroyed multiple Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij posts in the Kurram sector, state broadcaster PTV reports, citing security sources.