Overnight strikes in Afghanistan’s Kandahar target ‘terrorist hideouts and military infrastructure’, says state media

KARACHI/ BAJAUR: The Pakistan military carried out overnight strikes in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, targeting “terrorist hideouts and military infrastructure,” as the military continues its operation against the Afghan Taliban, state-run Pakistan TV reported on Sunday, citing security sources. Operation Ghazab lil-Haq was launched in late February following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. According to Pakistan TV, the strikes “targeted facilities used by the Afghan Taliban and affiliated terrorist groups to support attacks against Pakistani civilians”. “Pakistan armed forces have successfully targeted military installations, including terrorist hideouts of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij,” Pakistan TV quoted the security sources as saying. Fitna al-Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The outlet said that the armed forces destroyed “technical support infrastructure and an equipment storage facility in Kandahar”, which, as per security sources, was being used to “facilitate cross-border terrorist activities”. In another strike, the armed forces targeted a tunnel in Kandahar “that housed technical equipment used by the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij”, as per security sources. “Operations under Operation Ghazab lil Haq will continue until attainment of objectives,” Pakistan TV quoted a security source as saying. The development came after at least four people, including two children, were injured when the Afghan Taliban launched a “few rudimentary” drones on late Friday evening. In a post on X later on Sunday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also confirmed the overnight military action in Kandahar and shared its footage. He stated: “On night March 14/15, Pakistan Armed Forces targeted military installations, including terrorist hideouts of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khawarij. “In these attacks, Pakistan’s forces also destroyed technical support infrastructure and equipment storage facility, in Kandahar, that was being used by Afghan Taliban and terrorists against innocent Pakistani civilians,” he added. The information minister stressed that the footage showed “precision engagement by Pakistan on those installations and terrorist camps”. “No civilian population or infrastructure was targeted as falsely propagated by Afghan regime officials and media,” he asserted.

‘684 Taliban personnel killed so far, point on Afghan post destroyed’ Providing an updated tally of the losses inflicted on the other side, Tarar said 684 Afghan Taliban personnel have been killed so far and more than 912 have been injured. He added that 252 posts have been destroyed and another 44 were captured and destroyed. A total of 229 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns have also been destroyed, the minister added. Tarar further stated that “73 terrorists and terrorist support infrastructure locations across Afghanistan [have been] effectively targeted by air”. Separately, as Operation Ghazab lil-Haq continued, Tarar said a “terrorist jump-off point” at Afghanistan’s Badini Post was destroyed through ground forces. Security sources said the Badini Post was targeted using light and heavy weapons from the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral on Sunday. The post was “completely destroyed” by using various ground-based weapons as well as quadcopters, they added. The security sources said the Afghan Taliban and the terrorists were facing “heavy setbacks on every front following unprovoked aggression”. “Operation Ghazab lil-Haq is ongoing and will continue until its objectives are achieved,” a security source said.

4 killed in Bajaur The information minister also said “the Afghan Taliban regime deliberately targeted the civilian population through artillery/mortar fire from across the border in Tabesta Letai, Salarzai area of KP’s Bajaur district” at 3:30pm on Sunday. “Four innocent civilians have embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while one five-year-old child is seriously injured as a house was hit in this attack,” he added.

Separately, district police spokesperson Israr Khan told Dawn that residents of adjacent villages had rushed to the scene soon after the incident and recovered the deceased and the injured from the debris. He said a team of police personnel from the Salarzai police station, led by the station house officer, visited the area, inspected the damaged home, and collected evidence. Meanwhile, Tarar said in his post: “This cowardly and heinous deliberate targeting of civilians by Afghan Taliban regime in cohorts with terrorists organisation Fitna al Khawarij is not only a grevious violation of international law and basic human values but is also reflective of their deep frustration and desperation while facing heavy setbacks on multiple fronts by the armed forces of Pakistan through targeted attacks on terrorists and support infrastructures as part of operation Ghazab lil-Haq.”