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• Tarar says 188 posts destroyed, 56 targets hit in Afghanistan
• Bagram air base struck; Khugyani base destroyed in Nangarhar; ammunition depot hit in Jalalabad
• Shelling reported in Mohmand; several militants injured in Bannu strikes
• UNAMA calls for halt to cross-border clashes
KARACHI: Cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan continued on Tuesday, with intermittent fighting reported along the frontier as Pakistani forces expanded aerial and ground operations under Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said 464 Afghan Taliban personnel had been killed, over 665 injured, and 188 checkposts destroyed as of late afternoon, with multiple military installations targeted across Afghanistan.
Amid escalating violence, including strikes on Bagram and Khugyani bases and border skirmishes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the United Nations urged both sides to halt hostilities and warned of the growing risk to civilians and worsening humanitarian conditions in the border region.
Intermittent clashes were reported along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district, where heavy firing and shelling continued at intervals since early hours.
According to eyewitnesses, exchanges of fire and shelling persisted at intervals since early hours, with the sound of heavy weaponry echoing across several border villages. The escalating situation also prompted multiple families to begin relocating to safer areas amid concerns of further violence.
Residents said that 54 educational institutions and local markets had been closed as a precautionary measure, disrupting daily life and compounding anxiety in the affected communities. The district administration did not issue an official statement until Tuesday night regarding the unfolding situation.
Meanwhile, security forces carried out an intelligence-based operation in the Domel tehsil of KP’s Bannu district that reportedly left several militants injured, security sources said.
According to security sources, the operation took place within the jurisdiction of Domel Police Station in the area of Kotka Akbar Ali Khan.
A quadcopter drone strike targeted a room near a tube well where the presence of militants had allegedly been reported, they added. After the initial strike, the injured militants were being shifted by their associates on motorcycles to an undisclosed location when a second quadcopter strike was launched.
Another mortar shell fired from across the border in Afghanistan landed in Bajaur district’s Lowi Mamund tehsil on Tuesday, but no casualties were reported.
Residents and official sources told Dawn that the shell was fired from Afghanistan’s Kunar province and fell in the mountainous Ghhakhi area along the Pak-Afghan border. Villagers said the mortar landed in a field about 20 metres from a house, narrowly avoiding damage or injuries.
Afghan combatants killed
Providing an operational update, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that as of 4pm on Tuesday, Pakistani armed forces had killed 464 Afghan Taliban personnel and injured over 665.
In a post on X, he said security forces had destroyed 188 checkposts and captured 31. He added that 192 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns had been destroyed, while 56 locations across Afghanistan had been effectively targeted through aerial operations.
Earlier, Mr Tarar said 40 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed in overnight operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where a physical attack was attempted at one location and fire raids were conducted at 12 points. All attacks were repulsed without civilian losses, he said.
In northern Balochistan, 27 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed after militants launched physical attacks on 16 locations in Qilla Saifullah, Noshki and Chaman districts and engaged troops at 25 points.
“The attacks at all the locations have been effectively repulsed with Afghan Taliban suffering 27 killed and scores injured,” the minister added. “One soldier of FC Balochistan North gave the ultimate sacrifice while defending the motherland, while five soldiers are injured.”
Bagram air base hit
The Pakistan Air Force struck the Bagram air base during ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, according to security sources.
The sources referred to a report they said was issued by Afghanistan’s defence ministry and detailed the damage caused by the strike. They said that Black Hawk helicopters, a Hercules cargo aircraft, a Tucano aircraft, armoured vehicles and other military equipment were destroyed in the strike.
In Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, Pakistani forces reportedly destroyed the Khugyani base in a separate air strike. Security sources said ground and air operations were continuing against Afghan Taliban elements and “Fitna Al Khawarij”.
Meanwhile, state-run PTV reported that the Pakistan armed forces targeted Afghan Taliban fighters in Jalalabad amid the ongoing operation, inflicting heavy losses.
Security sources said that an ammunition depot and drone storage in Jalalabad had been destroyed “through full-scale aerial action”.
“In response to the aggression of the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistan armed forces’ effective and devastating counterattacks have inflicted heavy losses on the Afghan Taliban and the Kharijite rebels,” it added.
UN calls for halt to clashes
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has reiterated its call for a halt in cross-border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“UNAMA also calls on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, and to ensure the protection of civilians,” it said in a press release issued in Kabul.
Fauzee Khan in Mohmand and Muhammad Waseem Khan in Bannu also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2026
