ISLAMABAD, MAR 18: Pakistan on Wednesday announced a temporary pause in the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan in view of the upcoming Islamic festival of Eid ul Fitr.

In a X post, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that upon Islamabad’s own initiative as well as on the request from the brotherly Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye, the government has decided to announce a temporary pause in the ongoing military operation against the terrorists.

“The pause shall be applicable from midnight 18/ 19 March 2026 to midnight 23/24 March 2026,” he added.

The information minister said that Islamabad offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with the Islamic norms.

Tarar, however, warned that in case of any cross-border attack, drone attack or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, the military operation will immediately resume with renewed intensity.

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The security forces launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq (Righteous Fury) last month after the Taliban regime’s unprovoked actions along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border.

Sharing brief summary of losses by Fitna Al Khawarij and the Afghan Taliban regime, the information minister said that 707 terrorists have been killed and 938 injured so far.

He said that Afghan Taliban regime’s 255 posts have been destroyed and 44 captured.

The minister added that 237 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns have been destroyed, and that 81 terrorist and support infrastructure sites across Afghanistan were effectively targeted by air.

He maintained that on the night of March 16, Pakistan armed forces targeted Afghan military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar.

In these strikes, the Pakistan’s forces destroyed drone storage and technical support infrastructure and 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.

Meanwhile, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has revealed that India-supplied drones were used by the Afghan regime against Pakistan recently.

Speaking on Geo News programme Capital Talk, the ISPR rubbished the Afghan regime’s claims about civilian casualties in recent Pakistani strikes, saying that the Kabul attack was aimed at targeting ammunition and a drone depot.

Pak-Afghan tensions
The recent escalation of tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan follows Pakistan’s retaliatory actions in response to suicide bombings in Islamabad, Bajaur, and Bannu, all of which were traced back to militants based in Afghanistan.

Islamabad, which has repeatedly urged Kabul to prevent its soil from being used by terrorist organisations to carry out attacks, conducted intelligence-based strikes targeting seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Fitna al Khawarij (FAK) — a term used for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — its affiliates and the Daesh-Khorasan, along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last week.

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The recent border tensions reignited months after the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in October 2025 when the Afghan Taliban regime opened unprovoked gunfire at several border points.

The Afghan forces’ firing was aimed at helping Khawarij formations cross the border into Pakistan.

Islamabad, however, back then had agreed to an initial ceasefire at Kabul’s request. The countries then later reached a ceasefire deal in Qatar, which was mediated by Doha and Turkiye.

Under the agreement, terrorism from Afghanistan on Pakistani soil was to be stopped immediately.

The two sides then further held follow-up discussions in Turkiye which did not deliver the desired results due to stubbornness from the Afghan side, as Kabul used the Istanbul talks to malign Pakistan rather than address Islamabad’s core concern of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.