Operation Ghazab Lil Haq temporarily paused on request of Saudi, Qatar and Turkiye in view of Eidul Fitr: Tarar
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. PHOTO: FILE
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday announced a "temporary pause" in Operation Ghazab Lil Haq against the Afghan Taliban and terrorists in the neighbouring country on request of mediating countries and the upcoming Eidul Fitr holidays.
Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched last month following renewed clashes along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, after Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation by Pakistan.
The neighbouring countries have been engaged in escalating hostilities along the frontier since then. The clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani air strikes targeting terrorist positions.
“In view of the upcoming Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, upon its own initiative as well as on the request from the brotherly Islamic countries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkiye, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has decided to announce temporary pause amidst ongoing Operation Ghazab Lil Haq against the terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan,” Tarar said in a post on X.
TEMPORARY PAUSE IN OPERATION GHAZAB LIL HAQ
(18 Mar 26)
In view of the upcoming Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, upon its own initiative as well as on the request from the brotherly Islamic countries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkiye,…The minister said the pause shall be applicable from midnight March 18/19, 2026, to midnight March 23/24, 2026. He said Pakistan was offering the gesture in good faith and in keeping with Islamic norms, adding that in the event of any cross-border attack, the operation would be resumed.
“In case of any cross-border attack, drone strike or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, ‘Operation Ghazab Lil Haq’ shall immediately resume with renewed intensity,” the minister concluded.
In a subsequent post, the minister provided a summary of the Afghan Taliban regime’s losses in the operation, stating that 707 operatives had been killed and more than 938 injured during Operation Ghazab Lil Haq until the ceasefire.
✅Operation Ghazb-lil-Haq
✅Update 1900 hours 18 March (TILL ANNOUNCEMENT OF CEASEFIRE)
✅Summary of Fitna Al Khawarij / Afghan Taliban losses
▪️707 Killed
▪️938+ Injured
▪️255 Posts destroyed
▪️44 Posts captured
▪️237 tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery guns destroyed… pic.twitter.com/fdvSzj1RezHe said 255 check posts had been destroyed and 44 others captured by Pakistani security forces. “Two hundred and thirty-seven tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns have also been destroyed during the operation,” he stated.
The minister added that 81 terrorists and their locations across Afghanistan were effectively targeted by air strikes.
He maintained that Pakistan had successfully targeted terrorists’ affiliated installations in Afghanistan on the night of March 16, adding that the Pakistan Armed Forces struck Afghan military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar.
“Pakistan’s forces destroyed drone storage and technical support infrastructure, as well as ammunition storage sites in Kabul and Nangarhar, which were being used by the Afghan Taliban and terrorist elements to carry out attacks against innocent Pakistani civilians,” he added.
The minister said the Pakistan Armed Forces effectively targeted and destroyed Afghan Taliban posts in the Bajaur, Kurram, Torkham Khyber, and North and South Waziristan sectors.
On Tuesday, the Taliban regime's deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat claimed in a post on X that an airstrike had hit the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, killing up to 400 people in the Afghan capital overnight.
However, Pakistan forcefully rejected the Afghan Taliban’s claims, terming the allegations “entirely baseless” and part of a wider pattern of misinformation aimed at distorting facts.
Tarar had said the strikes carried out were “precise, deliberate and professional”, targeting only military and terrorist infrastructure linked to attacks inside Pakistan.
Reiterating the same, he attached a video of the attacks and said it "shows precision engagements carried out by Pakistan against these installations, posts, and terrorist camps that directly or indirectly support terrorism from Afghan soil".
He asserted that "no civilian population or infrastructure was targeted, contrary to the false claims being propagated by Afghan regime officials and sections of the media."
Meanwhile, an official told Reuters today that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has put the death toll in the alleged incident at 143.