Tarar says 198 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed during the operation
A Pakistani soldier on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. PHOTO: AFP
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that 481 Afghan Taliban were killed and more than 696 injured during Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, launched in response to “unprovoked action” from across the Afghan border.
“Operation Ghazab Lil Haq” was launched on Thursday evening after renewed clashes along the Pakistan-Afghan border, when Afghan Taliban forces fired on several locations, provoking rapid military retaliation. The neighbors have been clashing along the border since last week, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani airstrikes.
Islamabad said the February airstrikes that triggered the escalation targeted terrorists. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of not taking action against terrorist groups carrying out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government rejects. Border fighting has affected several Afghan provinces. The violence in recent days is the worst since October fighting that killed more than 70 people on both sides, with land borders between the neighbors largely closed since then.
Taking stock of the losses of the Afghan Taliban regime as of 4 p.m. today, the Information Minister said 226 checkpoints had been destroyed and 35 others captured by Pakistani security forces.
“One hundred and ninety-eight tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed during the operation,” he said.
The minister added that 56 sites across Afghanistan were effectively targeted by airstrikes.
✅Operation Ghazb little Haq
✅Updated at 4:00 p.m. March 4✅ Summary of Afghan Taliban losses
▪️481 killed,
▪️696 + Injured
▪️226 checkpoints destroyed
▪️35 messages captured
▪️198 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns destroyed
▪️56 sites across Afghanistan actually…– Attaullah Tarar (@TararAttaullah) March 4, 2026
Read also: Pakistan launches cross-border strikes on seven terror camps after bomb blasts
The latest escalation in tensions between the two countries follows a series of retaliatory actions over the past year.
Pakistan had earlier carried out airstrikes against camps of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State’s Khorasan province in Afghanistan after a wave of attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad.
Pakistani security sources said more than 80 terrorists were killed in the strikes. The strikes provoked attacks from Afghanistan along the border, leading to the outbreak of the latest round of open conflict.
Islamabad has long maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory, an allegation that Kabul has repeatedly denied.
Tensions also increased after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year. Taliban forces then targeted areas along the Pakistani border, prompting Islamabad to respond with cross-border bombings. The exchanges caused casualties and damage to infrastructure on both sides and led to the suspension of trade after the closure of border crossings on October 12, 2025.
