Islamabad, March 17 Pakistan launched overnight air strikes targeting Taliban positions in Kabul and Nangarhar, hitting their military installations and terrorist infrastructure.
According to data shared by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Monday, so far 684 Afghan Taliban operatives have been killed and another 912 injured.
He said that 252 of their posts had been destroyed, and 44 were captured and subsequently destroyed. He added that 229 tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery guns belonging to the Taliban regime had been destroyed.
Nearly 73 terrorists and their support infrastructure locations across Afghanistan have been effectively targeted by air.
The latest strikes came as Operation Ghazab lil Haq, launched on February 26, continued, according to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Pakistan launched the operation in response to alleged attacks by the Afghan Taliban forces along the 2,600-km-long border.
On the night of March 16, Pakistan precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure, including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij in Kabul and Nangarhar, which were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.
Fitna al-Khawarij is a term used by the state to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
"The complete destruction of stored ammunition used by the Master Terror Proxy also contradicts the false claim," the ministry said.
The ministry also rejected a Taliban statement that Pakistan's strikes hit civilians, adding that Pakistan's targeting is precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.
"This misreporting of facts as a drug rehabilitation facility seeks to stir sentiments, covering illegitimate support to cross-border terrorism," the ministry said.
Separately, security sources said that in the Afghan province of Nangarhar, Pakistani forces targeted the Afghan Taliban's military installations at four locations. Logistics, ammunition and technical infrastructure adjacent to these installations were also destroyed, the sources added.
They further said that a drone assembly workshop, "the headquarters from which drones were sent," and weapon stocks were also destroyed in Nangarhar and Kabul.
According to the sources, drones were prepared at those workshops using parts made in Israel.
Six targets had been successfully targeted in Kabul and Nangarhar, they said, adding that there were also reports of several terrorists having been killed.
Earlier, the armed forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram sector targeted and destroyed important Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij hideouts, security sources said.
"During these operations, several khawarij were killed while the rest managed to escape," a security source said.
The armed forces also destroyed Afghan Taliban posts across the Pak-Afghan border in KP's Bajaur sector, security sources said.
The forces targeted Afghan Taliban posts with "guided missiles".
