BEIJING/PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces attacked Afghan Taliban military facilities on Monday night, security sources said, as Islamabad moved forward with Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.
The operation began on the night of February 26, after unprovoked dismissal by the Afghan Taliban from across the border.
Security sources said that during Monday night’s attacks, Pakistani forces destroyed technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage at two locations in Kabul.
In Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, sources said, Pakistani forces attacked Afghan Taliban military installations at four points. Logistics, ammunition and technical infrastructure adjacent to these facilities were also destroyed, the sources added.
They also said that a drone assembly workshop, “the headquarters from where the drones were sent” and weapons stocks were also destroyed in Nangarhar and Kabul.
According to sources, the drones were prepared in these workshops using parts manufactured in India and Israel.
In updates shared around midnight, sources said the Pakistan Air Force was continuing its operations in Kabul and Nangarhar.
They said six targets had been successfully attacked in Kabul and Nangarhar, adding that there were also reports that several terrorists had been killed.
Earlier, armed forces in Kurram sector of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attacked and destroyed important Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij hideouts, security sources said.
“During these operations, several khawarij They were killed while the rest managed to escape,” said a security source.
Fitna al-Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to prohibited TTP.
The armed forces also destroyed posts of the Afghan Taliban along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in KP’s Bajaur sector, security sources said.
The forces attacked Afghan Taliban posts with “guided missiles.”
On Sunday morning, security sources said the military carried out overnight attacks in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, destroying “technical support infrastructure and an equipment storage facility.”
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed the military action and added that a tunnel used by terrorists was also destroyed.
Later in the day, Tarar said four civilians were killed and a child was injured after the Afghan Taliban “deliberately attacked civilians through artillery and mortar fire from across the border” in Bajaur district of KP.
Separately, the Ministry of Information dismissed a claim by the Afghan Taliban spokesman that a drug rehabilitation hospital had been attacked in Kabul.
The “claim by this discredited alleged spokesperson for the Taliban regime is another factual misinformation aimed at misleading public opinion,” the ministry said in a post on X.
He added: “On the night of March 16, Pakistan precisely attacked military facilities and terrorist support infrastructure, including the storage of technical equipment and ammunition of the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij in Kabul and Nangarhar that were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians. The post-attack detonation of stored ammunition used by the main terrorist representative also completely contradicts the false claim.
“Pakistan’s attacks are precise and carefully carried out to ensure that no collateral damage is inflicted. This factual misreporting… seeks to stir sentiments, covering up illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism. The statement is rejected as false and misleading.”
FO dismisses reports
Furthermore, the Foreign Office (FO) on Monday also dismissed reports that Pakistan had rejected China’s push for talks with the Afghan Taliban, saying “any unnecessary speculation or fabrication of facts in this regard is unwarranted.”
FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi’s statement came in response to queries about media reports claiming that Pakistan had rejected China’s offer.
“Pakistan and China remain reliable partners and close friends, and both maintain regular and close communication on all issues of mutual interest and shared interest.
“Therefore, any unnecessary speculation or fabrication of facts in this regard is unwarranted,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, China reiterated its offer to continue efforts to ease border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“The most urgent task is to prevent the spread of war and return the two countries to the negotiating table as soon as possible,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
“China is willing to continue making efforts to achieve reconciliation and facilitate relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said, adding that Beijing has been mediating between the two sides in recent days.
The comments come days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in a phone call that disputes between Islamabad and Kabul should be resolved through dialogue and consultation, not force.
There has been a resurgence of terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban return to power in Kabul in 2021.
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Officials say those calls have gone unanswered.
2 dead in Bannu; Frustrated attack on police post
At least two people in separate incidents allegedly linked to militants were kidnapped and later killed in KP’s Bannu district, sources said on Monday.
In the first incident, which occurred in Domel tehsil of Bannu, gunmen abducted a well-known figure identified as Malik Nabiullah along with three others, who were later released.
However, Nabiullah was taken to an unknown location and shot dead. His body was later recovered from the area, sources said.
Meanwhile, in Bakakhel area of Bannu near Tochi Bridge, unknown gunmen abducted a youth, identified as Shazeb Khan, from his village late on Sunday. He was later killed and his body was left abandoned on the side of the road.
According to sources, the case is being investigated in both cases.
Elsewhere in Bannu, a suspected militant attack on the Fatah Khel police post was foiled, police sources said.
According to police sources, the agents detected suspicious movements through thermal cameras, after which they immediately opened fire. The militants fled the scene after retaliatory firing.
Police officials stated that vigilance and timely response by personnel prevented a potentially major attack.
Bannu district has been the scene of repeated security incidents in recent months, both civilians and local security actors being attacked, causing targeted attacks operations.
On Friday, an attacker was killed and a police officer injured after terrorists attacked a checkpoint guarding an internally displaced persons camp in the Bakakhel area of Bannu.
Last month, militants stormed a mosque and kidnapped three brothers, two of whom were police officers, and were later killed.
Additional reporting by Muhammad Waseem Khan
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1982625/pakistani-forces-strike-afghan-talibans-military-installations-in-kabul-nangarhar-security-sources