Operation Ghazab lil-Haq: live updates

Three members of the same family, including two children, were martyred in cross-border shelling from India-backed Afghan Taliban regime in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bajaur, security sources said.

The shelling targeted the civilians in Malik Shaheen village, located in the Katkot border area, they added.

Sources said that three others were seriously injured in the unprovoked act of aggression against civilians.

Security sources said that the Afghan Taliban regime had been trying to help a group of Fitna al-Khawarij infiltrate into Pakistan.

However, timely action by security forces foiled the incursion, they added.

Following the failed attempt, Afghan Taliban personnel targeted civilian areas in Bajaur, sources said, adding that security forces were targeting Afghan Taliban posts along the border in their response.

China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed during peace talks in Urumqi to explore a comprehensive solution to the conflict that broke out between the two countries last October.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily press briefing that both countries agreed at the meetings in China not to take actions that would escalate or complicate the situation.

Mao added that China would continue to communicate with both countries and provide a platform for dialogue.

The military's top brass has vowed to continue Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq until terrorist safe havens in Afghanistan are eliminated and Afghan soil is no longer used against Pakistan.

The development emerged during the 274th Corps Commanders' Conference (CCC), presided over by Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, read a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations on Tuesday.

The forum reviewed the prevailing internal and external security environment, reaffirming that all terrorist proxies operating on the behest of India and other external sponsors, along with their facilitators and abettors, will be pursued and eliminated, relentlessly, and without exception, it said.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has said that 796 Taliban regime personnel and terrorists have been killed and over 1043 injured during the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.

In a post on X summarising Afghan Taliban losses, the minister said that 286 posts of the Afghan Taliban regime have been destroyed and 44 captured.

Giving details, he said that the Kabul regime’s 249 tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery guns and drones were destroyed by the security forces.

Negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are advancing steadily, China said on Friday following reports that the South Asian neighbours were meeting there to try to end their worst conflict since ‌the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

China, which shares a western border with both nations, has been trying to mediate between the Islamabad and Kabul, holding telephone calls with their foreign ministers and sending a special envoy on visits in March.

"Both Pakistan and Afghanistan attach importance to, and welcome, China's mediation, and are willing to sit down for talks again, which is a positive development," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily press conference.

Mao did not say where the talks were being held, though the neighbours have previously said they were in the northwestern city of Urumqi.

China has been mediating and promoting talks, in close communication with both sides to build suitable conditions and provide a platform, Mao said, adding that the three countries would issue further information in due course.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed that Pakistan had sent a delegation to Urumqi, China, for talks with Afghanistan.

Addressing a weekly briefing, Andrabi said that Pakistan is being represented in the talks by senior government officials, noting that details regarding the full composition of the delegation and participants are not currently available.

The meeting in the northwestern city of Urumqi comes after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar travelled to Beijing on Tuesday to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

China has sought to mediate in the escalating conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan says it is targeting extremists who have carried out cross-border attacks.

The information ministry has dismissed multiple fake claims by Afghan Taliban regime and Indian raw mouthpieces, regarding the removal of barbed wire along the Pak-Afghan border as fabricated and devoid of facts.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have launched junior-level diplomatic talks in Urumqi, China, diplomatic sources confirmed to Geo News on Wednesday.

According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan is prepared to engage with Afghanistan through dialogue but will not alter its policy on targeting terrorist hideouts.

To lead the discussions, Pakistan has appointed the Foreign Ministry’s Additional Secretary to represent Islamabad in the talks.

The repatriation of undocumented Afghan nationals has resumed at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing at Torkham on Tuesday.

During the latest operation, a large number of Afghan detainees were transferred to a transit camp as part of the ongoing process.

According to border officials, 11 undocumented Afghan nationals, who had been brought from different cities across the country, were shifted to the Hamza Baba Transit Camp.

After completing the required legal formalities, they were handed over to Afghan border authorities via the Torkham crossing.

In addition, more than 150 Afghan prisoners have been transferred from various prisons to the Hamza Baba Transit Camp, where their documentation and legal processing are currently underway.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi clarified on Thursday that the pause in Operation Ghazab lil-Haq ended on March 24 and had continued after Eid ul Fitr.

He stated that the Op would persist as long as Afghan Taliban regime supports the TTP and militants use Afghan soil against Pakistan.

“Operation Gazab Lil-Haq is ongoing. It is a precise, targeted operation, military campaign directed against terrorist leadership and their support and command, infrastructure, logistics, logistic networks and facilitators and abettors of these terrorist acts within the Taliban regime and in the Taliban controlled area,” he stated.

To another question, he pointed out that Pakistan had explored all avenues for peace and dialogue with the Afghan authorities, but those efforts failed, leaving no option but to initiate the operation.