Pakistan claims 274 Taliban fighters killed, warns Afghanistan to make ‘clear choice’
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Pakistan’s ISPR Director General, Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry Photograph: (X)
The recent escalation followed Pakistan Air Force airstrikes at seven locations in Afghanistan on February 21 in response to major terror incidents earlier this month, including those in Bannu and Islamabad.
Pakistan on Friday (Feb 27) claimed it had killed more than 274 Taliban officials and personnel since Thursday night, along with destroying 73 posts and capturing 18. The military added that 115 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and artillery pieces were also destroyed after its armed forces launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against Afghanistan in response to the Taliban's retaliatory offensive.
Pakistan’s military spokesperson warned the Taliban that “they have to make their choice: either choose Pakistan or terrorists,” adding that “the perpetrators of terrorist incidents in Pakistan will not remain safe anywhere.”
“I want to make one thing clear: the oppressive Afghan Taliban regime has to make a clear choice, choose between TTP, BLA, Daesh, Al-Qaeda, terrorists and terrorist organisations, and Pakistan,” the military spokesperson said.
Pakistan’s ISPR Director General, Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, made these statements during a press conference. He termed the Afghan Taliban regime “the master proxy of terrorist proxies operating out of Afghanistan.”
“This master proxy came into action last night in coordination with the terrorists of Fitna al-Khawarij (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan),” he added.
Twelve Pakistani soldiers were killed, and 27 were injured during the operations, while one soldier remains missing in action, according to Chaudhry.
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These statements from the Pakistani Army came after border tensions between Islamabad and Kabul escalated into what Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif termed an “open war.”
The recent escalation followed Pakistan Air Force airstrikes at seven locations in Afghanistan on February 21 in response to major terror incidents earlier this month, including those in Bannu and Islamabad. Pakistan accused the TTP of operating from Afghan soil and alleged that the Taliban were providing safe havens to the TTP and the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), claims that Kabul has denied multiple times.
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On February 26, the Afghan Taliban launched a massive retaliatory land offensive. They claimed to have captured 19 Pakistani outposts, killed 55 soldiers, recovered bodies, and seized military equipment.
Pakistan, which had long been an ally of the Taliban before relations deteriorated, called the Afghan Taliban regime an “internationally recognised terrorist organisation” responsible for last night’s aggression.
“This aggression was carried out 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.”
He further added that the Pakistan Army’s operation will continue and that “we are achieving the desired result.”
