Pakistan Strikes Afghan Taliban Bases in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia Amid Rising Tensions
IS-K Threat Rising as Pakistan, Afghan Taliban Exchange Heavy Fire Across Border
27th February 2026
Pakistan has launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban after what officials described as “unprovoked firing” across the border on Thursday evening. According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, fire was opened on multiple locations along the frontier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors. Two Pakistani security personnel have been killed in the ensuing clashes, while officials claim 133 Taliban fighters have been eliminated.
State media reported that the Pakistan Air Force destroyed an ammunition depot in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province. Families awaiting repatriation were meanwhile returned from the Torkham border to a holding centre in Landi Kotal in Khyber district.
Citing military sources, PTV News reported that Pakistani forces also carried out air strikes against key Taliban military installations in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia. The broadcaster said two brigade headquarters were destroyed in Kabul, while one corps headquarters and one brigade headquarters were struck in Kandahar. An ammunition depot and logistics base in Kandahar were also reported destroyed, along with a corps headquarters in Paktia.
Officials in Islamabad say the latest escalation follows weeks of intensified terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, prompting a renewed push for a coordinated national security response. A high-level meeting of federal and provincial officials on Wednesday resolved to treat the growing threat — including from the regional affiliate Islamic State – Khorasan Province — as a top priority, with the federal government promising additional resources and technical support.
Authorities maintain that militant bases responsible for recent attacks, including the bombing at an imambargah in Islamabad, were targeted in Afghanistan prior to Thursday’s cross-border clashes. Investigators have since traced the alleged mastermind to a cell operating in Bajaur, where members — including women — were reportedly involved in targeted killings and suicide attacks.
Amid the escalating hostilities, Afghan and Pakistani forces have traded fire along their shared frontier, particularly in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar and Nangarhar regions. Afghan officials told Al Jazeera that their forces seized several Pakistani border posts in retaliation for earlier air strikes, while Pakistani authorities claim to have damaged multiple Afghan positions. In an interview with Al Arabiya English, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan would respond militarily to Pakistan’s actions, denied the presence of militant groups operating from Afghan soil and accused Islamabad of targeting civilians and supporting IS-K.
