Pakistan’s forces have conducted targeted and decisive strikes against Afghan Taliban positions as part of Operation Ghazab Lil Haq. According to security sources, Pakistan’s forces are continuing to effectively engage and strike hideouts and military installations of the TTP and Afghan Taliban forces as the operation remains under way. The scale of engagement is significant. At the time of writing, 188 Afghan check posts were destroyed and 31 captured; 435 Afghan Taliban were killed and more than 630 injured. Additionally, 188 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns were destroyed and Pakistan has effectively targeted 51 locations across Afghanistan by air, including the destruction of an ammunition depot in Khost. These numbers reflect years of frusration. For years, Islamabad exercised strategic patience. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said last year that we are “completely writing the Afghan Taliban off” and “we do not expect anything good from them”. At the time, these words may have sounded harsh. Today, they sound prescient, given the audacity of the Taliban regime to continue its duplicitous policy of asking Pakistan for favours while not reciprocating anything in return.
The message from Islamabad has been consistent: cross-border terrorism is unacceptable. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar made it clear that Pakistan had used all possible diplomatic channels. Yet the Afghan Taliban were not willing to take action against terrorist organisations like the TTP and the BLA, groups that carry out cross-border terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Dar stated what many security analysts have long argued: the TTP’s entire leadership is based in Afghanistan and continues to operate with impunity from Afghan soil. Afghanistan has become a safe haven for multiple regional and international terrorist organisations, a concern reflected in reports of the UNSC. The claim that the “Afghan Taliban regime serves as a master-proxy of forces to destabilise Pakistan and the entire region” is a serious one. But so too is the evidence of continued attacks inside Pakistan. Diplomacy, mediation efforts by Qatar and Turkiye, and back-channel engagements have all failed to yield meaningful results. Reports say Pakistan has dealt a massive military blow to the Afghan Taliban regime. Initial bluster and threats from Kabul have fallen silent since Operation Ghazab Lil Haq began.
The military reality is relatively straightforward: Pakistan possesses one of the most capable armed forces in the region, and Afghanistan cannot match its air power. Its leverage lies not in conventional warfare but in asymmetric proxies. This is precisely what Islamabad says it will no longer tolerate. Security officials have confirmed that the Pakistan Army has secured control of the Afghan Taliban’s central post and cleared several Taliban compounds. Some say a buffer zone may soon be declared over the posts and areas captured, an indication that this may not be a brief punitive strike. And yet the tragedy is that ordinary Afghans will bear the brunt of the Taliban’s rigid policies. Peace in Afghanistan benefits not just Pakistan but the people of Afghanistan too. From the expulsion of Afghan refugees to the closure of trade and border crossings, the economic and humanitarian consequences are severe. The Taliban could have chosen regional integration, economic cooperation and internal reform. Instead, they appear to have chosen terror. Pakistan’s case is quite clear: no state can allow its territory to be targeted repeatedly by groups enjoying sanctuary across an international border. Pakistan’s decision to move from diplomatic protest to direct action suggests that the threshold has been crossed. The current operation is about drawing this important line. The hope, ultimately, is accountability. The region has suffered enough from cycles of proxy warfare and mistrust. If Kabul recalibrates its approach and acts decisively against groups targeting Pakistan, de-escalation remains possible.
