Pakistan Defence Information
Pakistan has escalated its navy response in opposition to the Afghan Taliban by means of Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, conducting airstrikes throughout Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, and Paktika. UNAMA experiences mounting civilian casualties as China makes an attempt mediation.
Pakistan has escalated its navy response in opposition to the Afghan Taliban and related militant teams by means of a sustained air marketing campaign throughout a number of Afghan provinces underneath Operation Ghazab Lil Haq.
The Pakistan Air Drive (PAF) carried out in a single day strikes between 12 and 13 March concentrating on suspected militant infrastructure in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, and Paktika. Based on Pakistani safety officers, the strikes hit logistics hubs, gear depots, and coaching camps linked to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and affiliated teams.
In Kandahar, Pakistani forces reportedly destroyed an oil depot on the airfield belonging to the non-public airline Kam Air, in addition to an underground tunnel used for storing gear and logistical provides. The 313 Corps infrastructure in Kabul and camps in Paktia – together with the Tarawo and Sherinaw amenities – have been additionally among the many said targets.
Escalation Timeline
The present cycle of hostilities traces again to 21 February, when the PAF struck seven alleged TTP and Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISIS-Okay) camps within the provinces of Nangarhar, Paktika, and Khost. Pakistan said these strikes have been in retaliation for assaults in Islamabad, Bajaur, and Bannu – assaults Islamabad attributed to teams working from Afghan soil.
Afghanistan’s Taliban administration condemned the February strikes, claiming they hit civilian areas and spiritual centres in Nangarhar. The Afghan facet adopted with cross-border fireplace on 26 February, together with drone assaults in opposition to Pakistani positions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and artillery exchanges alongside the Durand Line.
Pakistan responded by launching Operation Ghazab Lil Haq – translated roughly as ‘Wrath for the Fact’ – with air and floor operations concentrating on Afghan Taliban positions throughout Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, and Nangarhar. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declared the scenario an “open warfare,” whereas the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that the Afghan Taliban had began the battle and Pakistan could be the one to finish it.
As of 15 March, Pakistan’s Data Minister Ataullah Tarar reported that 684 Afghan Taliban and militant fighters had been killed and over 912 wounded through the operation. Pakistani officers additionally claimed the destruction of 252 posts, 229 tanks and armoured automobiles, and 73 focused websites throughout Afghanistan by means of airstrikes. Nevertheless, Reuters has famous that neither facet has offered verifiable proof for his or her casualty claims.
Civilian Value and Contested Narratives
The civilian toll stays some extent of sharp disagreement. The United Nations Help Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded 185 civilian casualties – 56 killed and 129 injured – between 26 February and 5 March alone, with 55% of these casualties being girls and kids.
In a single incident on 27 February within the Barmal district of Paktika, UNAMA documented 14 civilian deaths from airstrikes, together with girls and kids.
Following the 12–13 March strikes, UNAMA documented not less than 4 further civilian deaths and 14 accidents within the Pul-e-Charkhi space of Kabul. By 13 March, the mission’s cumulative rely since 26 February stood at 75 civilians killed and 193 injured throughout Afghanistan.
Pakistan has persistently denied concentrating on civilian infrastructure, stating its operations are intelligence-based and directed completely in opposition to militant positions. The Afghan Taliban, for its half, denies internet hosting the TTP or different armed teams, and has accused Pakistan of placing residential areas, civilian airways, and gasoline infrastructure.
Given the Taliban’s directive limiting media entry to strike websites – with the Normal Directorate of Intelligence reportedly ordering Afghan home shops to not cowl focused areas – impartial verification of casualties on both facet stays tough.
China’s Mediation and the Outlook
China has emerged as probably the most lively mediator within the battle. Beijing’s particular envoy for Afghan affairs, Yue Xiaoyong, met with Afghanistan’s performing International Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul earlier than travelling to Islamabad on 12 March for talks with Pakistan’s Particular Consultant for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, and International Secretary Amna Baloch. Chinese language International Minister Wang Yi individually urged each side to train restraint and pursue face-to-face talks.
That stated, China’s diplomatic push has produced combined outcomes. Whereas Pakistani airstrikes reportedly paused briefly following a message from President Xi Jinping to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the 12–13 March and 14–15 March strike waves point out the marketing campaign has resumed. Pakistan has said it’s “in no hurry” to finish Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, and that strikes will proceed till the Taliban supplies verifiable ensures that it’s performing in opposition to TTP parts on Afghan soil.
The Afghan Taliban responded to the 13 March strikes with drone assaults on the Pakistani garrison city of Kohat, injuring two civilians. Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry additionally claimed retaliatory operations alongside the Durand Line in Kunar and Nangarhar.
One can see the battle getting into a cycle the place all sides’s retaliatory strikes feed additional escalation – with neither possessing the standard capability nor the political incentive to drive a decisive final result. Earlier mediation efforts, together with a Qatari-brokered ceasefire in October 2025 and Turkish-hosted talks in November, failed to supply lasting preparations. It stays unclear whether or not Beijing – which has invested over $65 billion in Belt and Highway Initiative tasks in Pakistan and holds rising mining pursuits in Afghanistan – can apply adequate stress to deliver each events to significant negotiations.
