Pakistan has launched Operation Ghazab Lil Haq against the Afghan Taliban regime after Kabul claimed its forces killed 55 Pakistani soldiers in cross-border strikes, sharply escalating tensions along the volatile Durand Line.State broadcaster PTV News said the operation was initiated in response to what it called “unprovoked aggression” from Afghanistan. According to the channel, 58 “Afghan kharjis” have been killed so far, more than 100 injured, and 12 Afghan posts completely destroyed. It also reported that over 30 Afghan tanks, artillery guns and armored personnel carriers were destroyed during the operation.Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said the armed forces were delivering a “crushing response” to aggression from the Afghan Taliban. He urged the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the federal authorities and other provinces in defending the country.The escalation follows claims by the Taliban-led Afghan government that it had seized 19 Pakistani military outposts and captured a major headquarters at Anzar Sar in Khost province. Afghanistan’s Deputy Spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat wrote on“To date, one headquarters and nineteen outposts have been captured,” he said, adding that “up to fifty-five Pakistani soldiers have been killed,” with 23 bodies recovered and others taken alive. He claimed dozens of weapons were seized and that operations were continuing across several eastern provinces, including Paktia, Paktika and Nangarhar, as well as at the Torkham Gate crossing.Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the offensive was in response to repeated Pakistani assaults. “Extensive offensive operations have begun against Pakistani army centers and military facilities along the Durand Line,” he posted.Islamabad has rejected Kabul’s casualty figures. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said two Pakistani soldiers were killed and three wounded, while 36 Afghan fighters had died. He described Afghanistan’s actions as unprovoked and said Pakistan was giving a “strong and effective response”.The clashes follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week that Islamabad said targeted militant training camps near the border. Afghanistan said the strikes killed civilians, including women and children, and called them a violation of its sovereignty.With both sides trading heavy fire and evacuations reported near the Torkham crossing, fears are mounting of a wider confrontation between the two neighbours.
