ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said that the temporary pause in Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban had concluded, and the operation will continue “until its objectives are achieved”.
FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi made these remarks while responding to questions during his weekly press briefing regarding whether the pause had been extended.
The operation was launched on the night of Feb 26 following unprovoked cross-border attacks by the Afghan Taliban.
“Operation Gazab lil-Haq is ongoing. It is a precise and targeted military campaign directed against terrorist leadership and their support and command structures, infrastructure, logistics, logistic networks, and facilitators involved in these terrorist acts within the Taliban-controlled areas,” he said.
Mr Andrabi added that a temporary pause had been observed “in deference to Eidul Fitr celebrations and in response to requests from our brotherly Islamic countries”.
“The pause concluded at midnight between March 23 and 24. So, Operations under Operation Gazab lil-Haq continue will now continue until the objectives are achieved, and until the Afghan Taliban regime reviews its misplaced priority of supporting terror infrastructure and proxies over the welfare of its own people,” he said. On March 18, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had announced a “temporary pause” in the operation in view of Eidul Fitr and at the request of brotherly Islamic countries.
At the time, he said that Pakistan had offered the gesture in good faith and in accordance with Islamic norms.
Shortly after the announcement, the Afghan Taliban also declared a temporary suspension of their military operations against Pakistan. Their spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, stated that the decision was taken in response to requests from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Qatar.
Earlier this week, a group of clerics from Pakistan and Afghanistan appealed to authorities on both sides to extend the pause in hostilities to Eidul Azha.
Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2026
