ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has resumed its military operations against Afghanistan after a temporary pause in fighting ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr festival, a security official with direct knowledge of the development confirmed on Wednesday.
Pakistan last week announced a pause in its military operations against Afghanistan ahead of Eid Al-Fitr, describing the move as a gesture in line with Islamic values. Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the pause — facilitated at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye — would remain in effect from midnight Mar. 18–19 to midnight Mar. 23–24.
The two countries have been locked in their worst fighting in decades, with Islamabad accusing the Afghan Taliban of harboring militants responsible for cross-border attacks, a charge Kabul denies.
The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Arab News that Operation “Ghazab Lil Haq” or the Wrath for Truth has resumed against Afghanistan.
“Operations are ongoing, precise and targeted military campaign directed against terrorist leadership, their support and command infrastructures, logistics networks, and all facilitators and abettors under the Afghan Taliban regime-controlled areas,” he said.
He said the military operations will continue until Pakistan’s objectives are achieved and the Afghan Taliban reviews its “misplaced priority of supporting terror proxies.”
Pakistan already warned Kabul last week that any cross-border attack would lead to an immediate resumption of its military operations with renewed intensity.
The pause in fighting followed a major escalation in the conflict, including Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said hit a drug rehabilitation center in the capital, killing hundreds of civilians.
Pakistan has denied targeting non-military sites, saying its operations were aimed at militant infrastructure and its strike was against a drone and explosive storage facility in Kabul.
Over the last three weeks, both countries have launched attacks against each other and engaged in ground firing across their 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border, with each claiming to have inflicted heavy damage and killed hundreds of troops, without providing evidence.
Meanwhile, 22 prominent religious clerics, 11 from each of Pakistan and Afghanistan, urged the two countries to extend the ceasefire in a joint statement released on Tuesday.
The statement in Pashto was circulated on social media and called for a “sustainable and dignified” end to the conflict between the two neighboring countries.
Several countries, including China and Iran, have called for restraint and urged both sides to de-escalate tensions.
