ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said on Tuesday it would continue strikes against militants, who wage attacks against Pakistan from the Afghan soil, until complete elimination of their “safe havens” in the neighboring country.
Pakistan on Feb. 26 launched a military operation, Ghazab-lil-Haq, against militant groups allegedly operating on Afghan soil, following repeated attacks and cross-border clashes with Afghan forces. The fighting has been the most severe between the neighbors in decades.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of providing safe havens to militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The group is separate but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban. Kabul denies the allegation.
Amid ongoing hostilities, the Pakistani army’s top commanders on Tuesday undertook a comprehensive review of the prevailing internal and external security environment, and decided to pursue and eliminate all “terrorist proxies” relentlessly, the military said.
“The pace of Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq will be maintained till the culmination of terrorists’ safe heavens and use of the Afghan soil against Pakistan is decisively brought to an end,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said after the meeting presided over by Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Kabul did not immediately respond to the statement, which came two days after Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the military had killed nearly 800 fighters in the ongoing operation. He did not specify how many of them were militants or members of the Afghan Taliban forces.
“As part of these operations on night 2/3 April, an attempt to physically attack a border post in Ghulam Khan Sector by Afghan Taliban/FAK (Fitna Al-Khawarij or TTP) was comprehensively foiled in which they suffered heavy casualties including up to 37 sent to hell and 80+ injured,” the information minister said on X.
The numbers could not be independently verified.
The recent fighting has upended a Qatari-mediated ceasefire in October that had halted earlier clashes between the two sides that had killed dozens of civilians, security forces and militants. Peace talks held in Istanbul in November failed to reach a long-term solution.
‘USEFUL’ PROGRESS IN TALKS
Separately, the Taliban administration in Kabul said on Tuesday that Afghanistan and Pakistan made “useful” progress in talks in China to resolve the conflict, Reuters reported.
China, which shares its western border with both nations, has for weeks been trying to mediate the conflict between the allies turned foes.
In a statement from his office, Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said “useful discussions have taken place so far” and expressed hope that minor interpretations would not hinder the progress of the talks.
His comments came after he met with Zhao Xing, the Chinese ambassador to Kabul.
