Afghan Taliban | Pakistan

PESHAWAR: A senior security official has said that the Afghan Taliban were well aware of Pakistan’s concerns and demands, adding that the regime needed to take “verifiable steps” if it wanted a ceasefire or a dialogue. Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban are at their lowest point in the four years since the group came to power. On Feb 22, Pakistan targeted terrorist camps and hideouts overnight in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan, which led to the Afghan Taliban launching unprovoked attacks along the border last week. In response, Pakistan on Feb 26 initiated Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. Briefing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-based journalists at the Inter-Services Public Relations headquarters, the senior security official said that the Afghan Taliban regime was “well aware of Pakistan’s concerns”, adding that the “decision was now theirs”. “If they want dialogue or a ceasefire, they must take verifiable steps,” the official said. “Pakistan does not wish to attack anyone; our priority remai...

Islamabad - At least 435 Afghan Taliban operatives have so far been killed and over six hundred and thirty injured during the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.

ISLAMABAD - Information Minister Ataullah Tarar Sunday shared updated details of Afghan Taliban losses in operation Ghazb Lil Haq.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday reminded Afghan Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani of Pakistan’s support during the anti-Soviet war, urging the Afghan authorities to ensure their territory is not used for activities hostile to Pakistan.

Pakistan conducts air strikes at 22 locations in Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost, Paktika Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry says 115 tanks, armoured vehicles, 73 posts of Afghan Taliban regime completely destroyed, 18 posts captured Pakistan Armed Forces continue to give strong response to Taliban aggression.

Attaullah Tarar has alleged that the Afghan Taliban leadership is fully cooperating with militant groups responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, claiming there is clear evidence of their support and coordination.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Friday that the Afghan Taliban had to choose between standing with Pakistan or with terrorist organisations. “I want to make one thing clear: the oppressive Afghan Taliban regime has to make a clear choice. The choice is to choose between Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Baloch Liberation Army, Daesh, Al Qaeda, the terrorists and terrorist organisations and Pakistan,” he said while giving a briefing on security forces’ response to unprovoked aggression by the Afghan Taliban on Thursday. “They have to make this choice. It has been made clear by the government of Pakistan. It is not something new I am saying … They have to make this choice. Whether they choose terrorists and terrorism or Pakistan. We are clear … Let it be known that our choice is absolutely clear. It will always be Pakistan over everything,” he said. “The Pakistan Army and the people of Pakistan have never hesitated in making any sacrifice f...

ISLAMABAD: The upper house of Parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution that condemned the unprovoked aggression by the Afghan Taliban, and demanded that the neighbouring country immediately cease all hostile actions and prevent the use of its soil for terrorism or aggression against Pakistan The House, through the resolution moved by PPP Parliamentary Leader Sherry Rehman, condemned the recent unprovoked aggression and hostile cross-border actions from Afghanistan, describing them as blatant violations of international law, established diplomatic norms, and the principles of peaceful neighbourly relations. The Senate declared that any attempt to challenge the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or national security of Pakistan constituted a direct affront to the dignity of the nation and would be met with a firm, proportionate, and decisive response. “For over forty years, Pakistan has borne extraordinary economic, social, and security burdens in hosting millions of Afghan nationals, extending hu...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday warned that the Afghan Taliban would face serious consequences following what he described as an unprovoked attack on Pakistan that targeted civilian areas.

VISUALS broadcast by state media in the early hours of Friday show Pakistani forces destroying a Taliban position in the Kurram sector. — X / RadioPakistan and PTVNewsOfficial • Govt claims ‘heavy losses inflicted’ on Taliban units that attacked positions in Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors • Offensive dubbed ‘Operation Ghazab Lil Haq’; Tarar says two Pakistani soldiers martyred, three injured in line of duty • State media claims 58 Taliban fighters killed, over 100 injured in counterattacks; PAF hits targets in Afghanistan • Civilians in areas along the border injured by Afghan shelling • Those awaiting repatriation at border evacuated to safety; FO says ‘no quarrel’ with ordinary Afghans PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s sec­urity forces swung into action after Afghan Taliban fighters launched unprovoked attacks along the border between both countries under the cover of darkness, the government said on Thursday night. However, they received “an immediate and effective response” from Pakistan’s securit...

Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban, after the neighbouring country opened unprovoked fire on multiple locations across the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday. In response, leaders across the political spectrum were united in their stance, lauding the country’s armed forces and asserting that any aggression from Kabul would be responded to firmly. President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan will not compromise on peace and territorial integrity. “Our armed forces’ response is comprehensive and decisive. Those who mistake our peace for weakness will face a strong response — and no one will be beyond reach,” he warned. In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the people and armed forces of Pakistan were always ready to protect the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. “There will be no compromise on the defence of the beloved homeland and every aggression will be met with a befitting reply,” he said....

Mosharraf Zaidi, the prime minister’s spokesperson for foreign media, said on Tuesday said that the Afghan Taliban regime initiated unprovoked firing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham and Tirah. In a post on the social media platform X, he said, “Pakistan’s security forces responded immediately and effectively, silencing the Taliban aggression.” He said that any further provocation would be responded to “immediately and severely”. He said Pakistan would “continue to protect its citizens and guard its territorial integrity”. The development comes after Pakistan targeted terrorist camps and hideouts overnight in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan over the weekend, with an official saying that “more than 80” terrorists had been killed in the air strikes. The strikes were the most extensive military engagement between the two neighbours since border clashes broke out in October last year. According to an information ministry statement, issued in the early hours of Sunday, the strike...

In an apparent attempt to offer an olive branch to Pakistan, the interim Afghan Taliban regime’s interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani on Friday said that his country was not a threat to any state and that it was ready to address misunderstandings. Speaking at the graduation ceremony at the Kabul Police Academy, Haqqani announced that the doors for negotiations were open. He said that his government continues to adhere to the commitments made under the Doha Agreement, not allowing Afghanistan’s soil to be used against any country, the Afghan Taliban’s official media reported. However, despite earlier promises and the commitments made in the Doha Agreement, cross-border infiltration and attacks by militants continue in Pakistan. Haqqani said that Afghanistan posed no threat to any country or region and that the Taliban leadership continued to strive to find ways for reasonable and durable solutions to end mistrust and misunderstanding of the international community. “The doors for negotiations to resolve curren...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday issued a demarche to the Afghan Taliban over its failure to rein in terrorist organisations operating from its soil after a deadly attack on a military camp in North Waziristan earlier today. Four security forces personnel were martyred when an attempt by terrorists to attack a security forces camp was foiled in the area of Boya in North Waziristan district. In a statement, the FO said that Pakistan condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms and identified the attackers as members of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a group under the TTP umbrella. “To convey our strong demarche, the Afghan Deputy Head of Mission was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the statement read. “The ministry conveyed Pakistan’s grave concern over the continued support and facilitation provided by the Afghan Taliban regime to the FAK/TTP, enabling them to carry out terrorist attacks against [the] Pakistan Military and the civilian population along the Pak-Afghan border and in adjoinin...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan on Thursday underscoring the importance of regional peace and stability agreed that Afghan Taliban regime must honour its commitments made to the international community and address Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns by taking concrete and verifiable actions against terrorist.

The shooting of National Guard members in Washington, DC, over which an Afghan immigrant has been charged, has nothing to do with Afghanistan’s people or its government, Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Wednesday. Muttaqi’s comments are the first on the incident by the Afghan Taliban government, and come a week after events in Washington when suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal is accused of opening fire on guard members, killing one and critically wounding another. On Tuesday, Lakanwal was charged with murder and other offences as he made his first court appearance, appearing remotely from a hospital bed. “This incident has nothing to do with the honourable people of Afghanistan or with the Afghan government,” Muttaqi said. “This is an individual criminal act, and the person who committed it was trained by the Americans themselves.” US officials have said Lakanwal was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan. He entered the US in 2021 through then-president Joe Biden’s Operation Allies Welc...

Military calls Afghan Taliban a global threat

DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has reiterated Pakistan's demand to the Afghan Taliban regime to stop facilitating terrorist groups.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said Pakistan was writing off the Afghan Taliban and had no further positive expectations from the group, amid consistently tense relations that show no sign of abating. Earlier today, Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, claimed that Pakistan had carried out overnight strikes in the neighbouring country. In a post on social media platform X, he said that Pakistan had “bombed” Khost province and carried out air strikes in Kunar and Paktika provinces. The military spokesperson rejected the allegations. Asked in an interview on Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ about whether Pakistan was denying carrying out any strikes or civilian casualties during the alleged strikes, the defence minister replied: “Both things are non-existent at this time. We do react and retaliate, but [targeting] civilians is not at all our manner. We have a disciplined force that has traditions and a code of conduct; we are not a ragtag group like the ...

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry refuted allegations by the Afghan Taliban on Tuesday that Pakistan had conducted overnight strikes in Afghanistan, state media reported. The statement by the head of the military’s media wing came hours after the Afghan Taliban spokesperson accused Pakistan of attacks in Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces. According to state broadcaster Pakistan TV, the military spokesperson refuted the claims of conducting strikes inside Afghanistan. “Pakistan Army has not attacked civilians inside Afghanistan,” it quoted him as saying. “Whenever Pakistan attacks someone, it announces it,” he said, according to local media. “In our view, there are no good and bad Taliban,” he said, adding that there was “no distinction” between terrorists. “The Taliban government should make decisions as a state, not as non-state actors,” said Gen Chaudhry. He also wondered how long the current set-up in Afghanistan would remain an interim o...