Pakistan conducted “well-planned and calibrated” airstrikes against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Information announced on Thursday, describing them as a “continuation” of Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq.
In a post on X, the ministry said the strikes reflected Pakistan’s resolve to eliminate terrorists, their networks and supporters. It said the strikes had targeted the hideouts and safe havens of terrorist organizations Fitna al-Khwarij and Fitna al Hindustan, resulting in the deaths of “multiple terrorists.”
The state uses the term Fitna al-Khwarij to refer to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, while it refers to Baloch militant groups as Fitna al-Hindustan. The designations aim to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism across Pakistan.
“Based on credible intelligence, selective targeting of terrorist camps and hideouts at two locations belonging to Fitna al Khawarij, Fitna al Hindustan and their affiliates has been carried out in Afghanistan with precision and accuracy,” read the information ministry’s statement. It said all targets were destroyed, with initial reports suggesting 22 terrorists had been killed.
“Large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at these hideouts were also destroyed,” it said.
According to the ministry, Pakistan has always stressed regional peace and stability, but the safety of Pakistani citizens remains the “foremost priority.” It regretted that Afghanistan “continues to remain a hub of terrorism. The threat to Pakistan emanates from Afghanistan.” Keeping this in view, it continued, the strikes had targeted terrorist hubs and “maximum precaution” was taken to ensure “no collateral damage.”
The statement stressed that Operation Ghazab-lil Haq would continue at “full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
Last month, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had similarly announced the conduct of “calibrated” airstrikes in the border region with Afghanistan against terrorist hideouts. He had said those strikes had killed over 28 terrorists.
Hindutva proxy
Separately, the Information Ministry issued a statement slamming the interim Afghan Taliban government for “acting as a proxy of Hindutva designs and abetting terrorism for money.”
Referring to a statement by an Afghan Taliban minister alleging links between Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies to violence in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, the ministry described the remarks as “self-rhetorical lies” aimed at diverting attention from serious internal oppression, dissent and instability.
“Afghan Taliban unfortunately remain willingly oblivious to their un-Islamic abetment of terror, acting as proxy to Hindutva design for the sake of greed of a few of their leaders,” it said, adding this rentier approach of destabilizing the region for money as a proxy of foreign agencies was leading the Taliban toward a self-destructive path, devoid of dignity and honor.
The ministry described the regime’s statements as reflecting despair and frustration at its inability to handle its own issues. It reiterated that the Afghan Taliban were a non-inclusive and non-representative regime imposing themselves upon the Afghan people by force and oppression, adding their comical attempts to externalize internal issues through rhetoric directed at Pakistan only reflected their own internal failings.