Pakistan details Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, terms Taliban ‘master proxy’ as it claims 274 killed in Afghan strikes

Taliban security personnel and residents search for victims after an overnight Pakistani air strike hit a residential area at the Girdi Kas village in Bihsud district, Nangarhar province on February 22, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Pakistan’s military escalated tensions with Afghanistan, accusing the Taliban of supporting terrorism and detailing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. Pakistan claims to have destroyed 83 posts, killed 274 Taliban personnel, and targeted military sites, with casualties on both sides.

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Pakistan’s military further escalated its confrontation with Afghanistan on Friday, with DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry doubling down on harsh accusations against the Taliban government and detailing the scale of what Islamabad calls Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.

Opening his press conference, Lt Gen Chaudhry described the Afghan Taliban regime as “the master proxy of terrorist proxies operating out of Afghanistan”.

“This master proxy came into action last night and in coordination with the terrorists of Fitna al khwarij,” he added.

The spokesperson went further, branding the Taliban an “internationally recognised terrorist organisation” and directly blaming it for the latest hostilities.

“This aggression was done by this master proxy in coordination, in collusion and in support of a terrorist organisation,” the DG ISPR said.

“That’s what happened last night.”

The rhetoric marks a striking reversal for Pakistan, which had openly welcomed the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 and positioned itself as a key regional interlocutor for the new regime.

Detailing the military operation, Lt Gen Chaudhry claimed Pakistani forces had destroyed 83 posts and captured 17 during the clashes. He said that “so far, in the operation Ghazab lil-Haq, 274 taliban regime personnel and khwarij have been killed”.

“More than 400 have been injured,” he added.

According to what he termed a conservative estimate, 115 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery pieces were destroyed.

The DG ISPR said 22 locations in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Langarhar, Khost and Paktika were selected as specific targets.

“All these targets were very carefully selected based on intelligence,” he said. “They are military targets and great care was exercised so that there is no civilian collateral damage.”

He said the targets included “core headquarters of Afghan Taliban forces, brigade headquarters, battalion headquarters, sector headquarters, ammunition depos, logistic bases, and refuges that provide shelter to terrorists and facilitators.”

Expanding on that claim, he asserted: “All their posts, their gun positions, their tank positions were taken out. Their battalion headquarters and sector headquarters were taken out.”

“This shows how targeted, how intelligence-based, how carefully selected these engagements were.”

However, even as Pakistan projected operational dominance, Lt Gen Chaudhry acknowledged casualties on its own side. He said that “so far, 12 brave sons of soil have embraced martyrdom while safeguarding the territorial integrity of Pakistan”.

He added that another 27 were injured while one soldier remains missing in action.

The latest claims come amid conflicting battlefield narratives, with Afghan authorities earlier asserting they had seized Pakistani outposts and inflicted losses along the Durand Line. None of the figures released by either side have been independently verified.