Afghan Taliban | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Senior leaders of the Afghan Taliban government on Friday contacted JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to express condolences over the killing of Sheikh Idris. According to the JUI-F media cell, Afghan Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid separately contacted Maulana Fazlur Rehman. In the discussion with Maulana Fazl, the Afghan leadership expres­sed deep sorrow over the killing and prayed for the departed soul. Maulana Idris, a senior member of JUI-F was shot dead by armed motorcyclists in the Utmanzai area of Charsadda on May 5, while he was traveling to a madressah. As the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the killing the initial findings suggest the attack was planned in Afghanistan. JUI-F protesters in Islamabad demand immediate arrest of culprits They strongly condemned the assassination and said the people and leadership of Afghanistan equally share the grief...

Forces have destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts and vehicles in Balochistan’s Chaman sector, security sources said on Wednesday. The operations, part of the ongoing ‘Operation Ghazab lil-Haq’, were a response to the “unprovoked aggression” by Afghan Taliban forces and terrorists on the Pak-Afghan border, according to the sources. Security sources said that the army destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts and vehicles in Chaman “with precision”. “The Pakistan Army’s effective operations have forced the Afghan Taliban and the Fitna al Khawarij to retreat”. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Security forces’ unwavering resolve to defend the homeland is ensuring the country’s territorial integrity,” sources added. The sources also stated that the operations will continue until “all set targets are achieved”. Security forces also destroyed multiple Afghan Taliban posts in the Chaman sector on Tuesday, according to security sources....

Security forces destroyed multiple Afghan Taliban posts in Balochistan’s Chaman sector on Tuesday, said security sources. The sources said that the operation was carried out in response to “unprovoked aggression” by Afghan Taliban forces and terrorists on the border, under the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. Security sources said the Pakistan Army effectively targeted and destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts in Chaman. The Sarshan, Al-Marjan and Edhi posts, as well as vehicles and other installations, were successfully hit, they added. They further added that security forces’ determination to defend the homeland was unwavering and that the “intentions of terrorists and their patrons will be crushed”. @dawn.today Security forces destroyed multiple Afghan Taliban posts in Balochistan’s Chaman sector on Tuesday, said security sources. The sources said that the operation was carried out in response to “unprovoked aggression” by Afghan Taliban forces and terrorists on the border, under the ongoing Operation Gh...

ISLAMABAD - The recent detention and subsequent release of influential Taliban figure Mullah Mutasim Agha Jan have highlighted widening internal rifts and power struggles within the Afghan Taliban, exposing deep-seated tensions in the group.

Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire in the Bajaur sector of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, said security sources. They added that Pakistan’s security forces “retaliated vigorously” after Afghan Taliban fighters opened fire with “small and large weapons” along different areas of the border district. Security sources further said retaliatory fire by Pakistani forces silenced the enemy’s guns and “Afghan posts from which Pakistan was being fired at were also destroyed”. According to local security officials, Pakistan “did not target any civilian population, but only targeted those posts from which continuous firing was being done”. The For­eign Office (FO) on Thur­sday said that the temporary pause in Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban over Eidul Fitr 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 information ministry on Friday rubbished the Afghan Taliban’s claim of Pakistan violating the temporary pause in fighting, terming the allegation “frivolous”. In a post on X, the ministry said, “The claim of so-called Ministry of Defence/spokesperson of Taliban regime that Pakistan has violated the temporary pause — initiated itself by Pakistan in view of Eidul Fitr — is frivolous. “No violation of the temporary pause has taken place along the western border by Pakistan and all such claims are absolutely false,” the statement on the “fact check” asserted. “Such propaganda may probably be initiated by detractors within Taliban regime, aimed at creating false pretext for some Afghan Taliban regime-directed terrorism or other action,” it contended. The ministry stressed that irrespective of who has initiated the propaganda and false claims, “Pakistan has already declared it clearly that any act of terrorism, cross-border attack, drone attack, etc by Afghan Taliban regime and its proxies will result [in] fort...

Citizens across Pakistan have strongly rejected what they describe as misleading propaganda by the Afghan Taliban against the Pakistan Army, voicing firm support for the country’s stance on countering terrorism.

Information Minister Ataullah Tarar on Wednesday announced that Pakistan has decided on a “temporary pause” in the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban in view of Eidul Fitr and at the “request of brotherly Islamic countries”. The information minister made the announcement in a post on the social media platform X. Operation Ghazab lil-Haq was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. In his post, the information minister said, “In view of the upcoming Islamic festival of Eidul Fitr, upon its own initiative as well as on the request from the brotherly Islamic countries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkiye, the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has decided to announce temporary pause amidst ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan.” Tarar said the pause would be applicable from “midnight March 18/19 to m...

Pakistan on Tuesday dismissed claims made by the Afghan Taliban that its armed forces allegedly struck a hospital in Kabul, stating that the target was “Camp Phoenix”, which is several kilometres away from the hospital. The development comes amid the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, which was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. Earlier on Monday, the government said that Pakistani forces targeted the Afghan Taliban’s military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar overnight. A fact check posted by the information ministry on X said that Omid Hospital, which the Afghan Taliban claimed had been hit, was “actually multiple kilometres away from Camp Phoenix, the military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site precisely targeted last night”. Sharing satellite imagery, the ministry said that the “actual hospital is a multi-storied structure as compared to the military/terrorist infrastructure actually targeted, whose image is also a...

BEIJING/PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces targeted the Afghan Taliban’s military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar on Monday night, the government said, as Islamabad pressed on with Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. The operation was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. Security sources had reported the development late on Monday night, with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirming the military action early on Tuesday. In a post on X, he said the armed forces “successfully carried out precision airstrikes” as part of Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, targeting “Afghan Taliban regime terrorism-sponsoring military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar”. “Technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities at two locations in Kabul were effectively destroyed,” Tarar said, stressing that the “visible secondary detonations after the strikes clearly indicate the presence of large ammunition depots”. In the Afghan province of Nang...

BEIJING/PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces targeted the Afghan Taliban’s military installations on Monday night, security sources said, as Islamabad pressed on with Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. The operation was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. Security sources said that during the strikes on Monday night, Pakistani forces destroyed the technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage at two locations in Kabul. In the Afghan province of Nangarhar, the sources said, Pakistani forces targeted Afghan Taliban’s military installations at four spots. Logistics, ammunition and technical infrastructure adjacent to these installations were also destroyed, the sources added. They further said a drone assembly workshop, “headquarters from where drones were sent” and weapon stocks were also destroyed in Nangarhar and Kabul. According to the sources, drones were prepared at those workshops using parts made in India and Israel. In updates...

At least four people, including two children, were injured when the Afghan Taliban launched a “few rudimentary” drones, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday. On Friday evening, security sources said that two rudimentary drones were intercepted at different locations adjacent to Rawalpindi but were successfully brought down through electronic countermeasures. The military’s media wing said today that the drones were intercepted through “soft and hard kills” and did not reach their intended targets. According to the ISPR, two children were injured in Quetta, a civilian was injured in Kohat and another in Rawalpindi. “These attacks were aimed at inducing fear in the public and remind us of the terrorist mindset which drives the Afghan Taliban.” The military’s media wing added that while the Afghan Taliban “project victimhood to garner global sympathy”, on the other hand, they “actively target civilians through their terrorist proxies and their drones”. “Pakistan’s people and its Armed Forc...

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. Afghanistan-based Tolo News also reported the same, citing an anonymous source. But, official sources in Pakistan said there was no truth to these reports and Pakistan had not sent any such delegation to Kabul. The sources asserted that Pakistan’s position was very clear that the Afghan Taliban would have to stop facilitating Fitna-al-Khawarij and take decisive action against them. There would be no talks with the Afghan Taliban until then, Pakistan would continue actions against the hideouts of Fitna-al-Khawarij in Afghanistan, the sources said. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The reports of alleged talks and the subsequent dismissal by the official sources have come against the ...

ISLAMABAD - 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.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said on Friday that the security forces have killed 527 combatants of the Afghan Taliban regime, destroyed their 237 posts, and “captured and destroyed” 38 others during Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.

PESHAWAR: A senior security official has said that the Afghan Taliban were well aware of Pakistan’s concerns and demands, adding that the regime needed to take “verifiable steps” if it wanted a ceasefire or a dialogue. Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban are at their lowest point in the four years since the group came to power. On Feb 22, Pakistan targeted terrorist camps and hideouts overnight in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan, which led to the Afghan Taliban launching unprovoked attacks along the border last week. In response, Pakistan on Feb 26 initiated Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. Briefing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-based journalists at the Inter-Services Public Relations headquarters, the senior security official said that the Afghan Taliban regime was “well aware of Pakistan’s concerns”, adding that the “decision was now theirs”. “If they want dialogue or a ceasefire, they must take verifiable steps,” the official said. “Pakistan does not wish to attack anyone; our priority remai...

Islamabad - At least 435 Afghan Taliban operatives have so far been killed and over six hundred and thirty injured during the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.

ISLAMABAD - Information Minister Ataullah Tarar Sunday shared updated details of Afghan Taliban losses in operation Ghazb Lil Haq.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday reminded Afghan Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani of Pakistan’s support during the anti-Soviet war, urging the Afghan authorities to ensure their territory is not used for activities hostile to Pakistan.

Pakistan conducts air strikes at 22 locations in Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost, Paktika Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry says 115 tanks, armoured vehicles, 73 posts of Afghan Taliban regime completely destroyed, 18 posts captured Pakistan Armed Forces continue to give strong response to Taliban aggression.