Armed forces destroy terrorist camps, support infrastructure in Afghanistan: security sources
In overnight strikes on Friday against terrorists and Afghan Taliban targets, the armed forces destroyed training camps and support infrastructure in Afghanistan, said security sources.
“Pakistan’s Armed Forces have carried out successful airstrikes inside Afghanistan as part of the ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq,” confirmed security sources.
According to security sources, the headquarters of the Afghan Taliban 313 Corps in Kabul, along with its associated infrastructure and an ammunition depot, were destroyed.
In Kandahar, the Tarawo terrorist training camp was struck along with an oil storage facility.
The armed forces also carried out strikes against the Sher-e-Nau terrorist camp, located in the Paktia province, added the security sources.
According to the sources, Pakistani forces shot down three drones of Fitna al-Khawarij using electronic warfare. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
According to TRT World, Afghan authorities said the strikes were carried out in Kabul and several border provinces.
The development comes as Pakistan continues with Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, which was launched in late February following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border.
Last Friday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that 527 Afghan Taliban operatives had been killed and more than 755 injured during the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.
In a post on X summarising Afghan Taliban losses, he said that 237 check posts had been destroyed, while 38 posts were captured and subsequently destroyed.
In another post on Wednesday, he raised the number of those killed to 641, while 243 check posts were destroyed.
Souring relations
There has been a resurgence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned 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 Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan heightened once again after the Feb 16 vehicle-borne suicide attack on a joint security forces post in Bajaur district near the Afghan border. Terrorists belonging to the TTP attempted to breach the Malangi check post and rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into its perimeter wall after an exchange of fire.
Eleven Pakistani soldiers were martyred. A young girl also died, and seven others, including women and children, were injured when a nearby residential building was damaged in the blast.
Investigators said the suicide bomber, identified as Amad, alias Qari Abdullah or Abu Zar, was a member of the Afghan Taliban’s special forces from Balkh province. The TTP claimed responsibility for the assault.
Then, on Feb 21, a lieutenant colonel and a sepoy were martyred in a suicide attack during an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district.
In its statement, the military reiterated that terrorists were “using Afghan soil” for carrying out attacks inside Pakistan, “violating the sanctity of the holy month of Ramazan”.
“Pakistan will not exercise any restrain and operations would continue against the perpetrators of this heinous and cowardly act for justified retribution against khwarij, irrespective of their location,” the ISPR asserted.
On Feb 19, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had warned that Pakistan would not hesitate to conduct strikes inside Afghanistan if attacks continued from across the border, saying military options remained viable.
In November last year, Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, had claimed that Pakistan had “bombed” Khost province, and carried out air strikes in Kunar and Paktika provinces.
At the time, Pakistan had neither confirmed nor denied the strikes, which were reported the same day a deadly suicide attack on the Federal Constabulary headquarters saw three personnel embrace martyrdom and 12 sustain injuries.
The strikes were reported almost a month after deadly border clashes at the Pak-Afghan border had resulted in the martyrdom of 23 Pakistani soldiers and the killing of over 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists, according to the ISPR.
The skirmishes began “on the night of Oct 11/12, 2025, [after] Afghan Taliban and India-sponsored Fitna-al-Khawarij launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan, along the Pak-Afghan border”.