ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday announced a "temporary pause" in fighting in view of Eid-ul-Fitr and at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, a day after the Afghan government accused Islamabad of killing 400 people in an attack on a rehabilitation hospital in Kabul.
Pakistan's Information Minister Ataullah Tarar made the announcement in a post on X, hours after his country carried out fresh attacks on alleged Taliban positions in the border region.
"In view of the upcoming Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, upon its own initiative as well as on the request from the brotherly Islamic countries" of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye, Pakistan has decided to announce a temporary pause amidst ongoing Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq, he said.
Tarar said the pause would be applicable from “midnight March 18/19 to midnight March 23/24”. He, however, added that in case of any cross-border attack, drone attack or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, the operation will immediately resume.
Hours later, Afghan government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the security and defence forces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar announce the temporary suspension of the defensive operations. He, however, said that Kabul “will respond courageously to any aggression in the event of a threat.”
Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil Haq on February 26 in response to alleged attacks by the Afghan Taliban forces along the 2,600-km-long border. So far, at least 707 Afghan Taliban personnel have been killed, and more than 938 have been injured, according to the Pakistani government.
Security forces carried out strong "retaliatory actions" against the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij in the South Waziristan sector under Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, sources said.
“From Shawal to Zarmalan, all identified Taliban positions were destroyed during the operation,” an official claimed, adding that the intense military response forced Afghan Taliban terrorists to retreat and flee.
Operation Ghazab lil-Haq will continue until all its objectives are fully achieved, the official said.
Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, rejected the Afghan Taliban claim of killing civilians in the airstrikes in Kabul and claimed that the site was a weapons depot where they had also stored drones.
Talking to Geo News, he also asked why the Afghan government had set up a drug rehabilitation centre near a weapon depot.
He said that the concept of civilian and combatant vanished under the Taliban regime as their fighters use civilian dresses to commit terrorism. “When they attack our posts, they are joined by fighters in civil clothes,” he claimed.
He said Pakistan destroyed 225 posts while capturing another 44. Pakistan also hit inside Afghanistan by carrying out 81 air strikes, he added.
He also accused India of providing support to the Afghan Taliban, including providing them with rudimentary drones, which they recently used to attack Pakistan. He, however, did not present any evidence in support of his claim.
He said that the Taliban should decide their future. “They (Afghan Taliban) should make a choice if they want to save their regime or they want to save TTP,” he said.
In a separate incident, the security forces foiled an infiltration attempt in the North Waziristan sector, killing multiple militants and destroying their hideouts.
The Pakistan Army carried out an operation in the border area of Mowa Khel, where militants linked to the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij were planning to infiltrate Pakistani territory, an official said.
Fitna al-Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“During the operation, several militants were killed, while others were forced to abandon their posts and flee the area,” the official added.
“The Afghan Taliban regime will have to decide whether it stands with terrorists or with Pakistan,” Tarar said while talking to Geo News.
Deputy Spokesman of the Afghan Taliban-led government, Hamdullah Fitrat, on Tuesday said that Monday night's bombardment by Pakistan targeted a drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital, resulting in the death of at least 400 people. He said 250 others were injured.
Afghanistan on Wednesday held a mass funeral for those killed in the attack. Speaking at the funeral ceremony, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani called the attack "a highly despicable and lowly act against humanity and Islamic principles," Tolo News reported.
Rejecting the claims, Tarar said the Afghan Taliban regime attempted to build a false narrative of an attack on a hospital.
“Pakistan’s position is clear terrorist sanctuaries must be eliminated,” Tarar said. “Where we carried out strikes, ammunition was stored, and the subsequent explosions are evidence of that.”
The minister also claimed that the Afghan Taliban had removed “false posts” related to the alleged strikes. “The Afghan Taliban regime had to delete misleading posts,” he said.