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 Nangarhar, Pakistani forces “struck four Afghan Taliban regime terrorism sponsoring military sites, destroying associated logistics, ammunition, and technical infrastructure”, the minister said.
“All targeting has been done with precision only at those infrastructures which are being used by Afghan Taliban regime to support its multiple terror proxies, including Fitna Al Khawarij and Fitna Al Hindustan, as can be clearly seen in accompanied footage,” Tarar stated, sharing a video of the said strikes.
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while Fitna al Hindustan is a term designated by the state for terrorist organisations in Balochistan.
“False claims made by the propagandists Taliban regime cannot befool the Afghans and the world from their heinous actions supporting and sponsoring terrorism in the region,” Tarar asserted.
The minister reaffirmed that “operations under Ghazab lil-Haq to safeguard Pakistani citizens against terrorism waged by Master Terror Proxy will continue until the desired objectives are fully achieved”.
On Monday night, security sources had also said that a drone assembly workshop, “headquarters from where drones were sent”, and weapon stocks were destroyed in Nangarhar and Kabul.
According to the sources, drones were prepared at those workshops using parts made in India and Israel.
In updates shared around midnight, the security sources said the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was conducting operations in Kabul and Nangarhar.
Six targets had been successfully targeted in Kabul and Nangarhar, they said, adding that there were also reports of several terrorists having been killed.
Separately, the information ministry dismissed a claim by the Afghan Taliban spokesperson that a drug rehabilitation hospital had been targeted in Kabul.
The “claim of this discredited so-called spokesperson of the Taliban regime is another misreporting of facts aimed at misleading public opinion”, the ministry said in a post on X.
It stated: “On the night of March 16, Pakistan precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure, including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij in Kabul and Nangarhar that were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.
