Tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border escalated sharply overnight as Pakistani security sources said the Pakistan Air Force carried out strikes targeting militant positions, including what was described as a major ammunition depot in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
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Officials stated that the action followed what they termed unprovoked cross-border attacks on Pakistani positions. According to government sources, at least 72 personnel linked to the Afghan Taliban regime were killed and more than 120 others wounded during retaliatory operations.
Security officials said Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab-lil-Haqq, during which 12 Afghan border posts were destroyed, while Pakistani forces reportedly took control of five others and raised the national flag. Sources further claimed that three Afghan battalions and a sector headquarters across the border were neutralised, along with more than 30 tanks, artillery guns and armoured personnel carriers.
Several Taliban positions, including installations near the Kharlachi terminal in Kurram district, were also targeted. Officials added that drone strikes and heavy weapons were used as Pakistani forces responded to continued firing from across the border.
Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities initiated hostilities and later attempted to spread “false and baseless propaganda” on social media. He alleged that Afghan Taliban-linked and Indian accounts circulated misleading information to conceal battlefield setbacks.
Tarar said Pakistan’s armed forces were acting with professionalism and resolve, adding that two Pakistani soldiers were martyred and three others injured during the clashes. There was no immediate response from authorities in Kabul.
Prime Minister’s spokesperson for foreign media Mosharraf Zaidi said the situation remained under control, asserting that no Pakistani posts had been captured or damaged. He dismissed reports of territorial losses as misinformation and said Pakistani forces had inflicted heavy losses in response to aggression.
Security sources also claimed that attempts by Afghan fighters to target Pakistani check posts using quadcopters failed, with all drones shot down. Officials further alleged that fake videos and false claims were being circulated online to distort the situation.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said Afghan forces had opened fire at multiple locations along the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, prompting an immediate military response across sectors including Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur.
The escalation follows recent intelligence-based airstrikes targeting militant camps linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost provinces after a series of attacks inside Pakistan.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said Pakistan would take all necessary measures to protect national security and territorial integrity, stressing that peace within the country would not be compromised.
Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui condemned the attacks and expressed support for Pakistan’s armed forces, pledging that the country’s sovereignty would be defended.
