In partnership with Friday, 27 February, 2026 | 9 Ramazan, 1447
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Rs 20.00 | Vol XVI No 234 | 8 Pages | Lahore Edition
30 TALIBAN FIGHTERS KILLED AS PAKISTAN RESPONDS ‘IMMEDIATELY, EFFECTIVELY’ TO AFGHAN TALIBAN UNPROVOKED FIRE operation Ghazab-LiL-haqq Launched
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AFGHAN TALIBAN REGIME LAUNCHES UNPROVOKED FIRE ACROSS MULTIPLE KP SECTORS, INCLUDING CHITRAL, BAJAUR, TIRAH, MOHMAND FORCES STRIKE TALIBAN CHECKPOSTS IN CHITRAL SECTOR WITH PRECISION, WHILE IN BAJAUR, TWO TALIBAN OUTPOSTS DESTROYED
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SECURITY FORCES INFLICT HEAVY CASUALTIES AND DESTROY ENEMY OUTPOSTS, KILLING AT LEAST 30 PERSONNEL OF TALIBAN REGIME
NO PAKISTANI POST CAPTURED OR DAMAGED, BUT PAKISTANI SIDE INFLICTED HEAVY LOSSES ACROSS BORDER IN RESPONSE TO UNPROVOKED TALIBAN AGGRESSION: PM’S AIDE
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India continues to aid, abet terrorism in Pakistan: FO
ISLAMABAD
staff report
AKISTAN’s security forces responded “decisively, immediately and effectively” to unprovoked aggression by the Afghan Taliban on multiple locations across the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and killed at least 30 personnel of the Afghan Taliban regime, security sources said on Thursday. Security sources confirmed, “The security forces launched operation Ghazab-Lil-Haqq after the Taliban regime’s unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border.” “Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked fire across multiple sectors, including Chitral, Bajaur, Tirah (Khyber), Mohmand, and Arandu (Chakwal) given an “immediate, and effective” response, inflicting heavy casualties and destroying enemy outposts,” security sources said. “Afghan Taliban miscalculated and opened unprovoked fire on multiple locations across Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is being met with “immediate, and effective” response by Pakistan’s security forces,” the information ministry said in a post on X. According to security sources, Pakistani forces struck Taliban check posts in the Chitral sector with precision, completely neutralising the positions. In Bajaur, two Taliban outposts were destroyed. Officials said the hostile elements were forced to retreat in disarray following the counterstrikes.
Ten terrorists killed in Zhob IBO, says ISPR ISLAMABAD
staff report
Security forces killed ten terrorists belonging to the Indian-backed proxy group “Fitna al Khawarij” during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Zhob district of Balochistan, the military’s media wing said on Thursday. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the action followed an earlier IBO conducted on February 24 in Zhob, where eight “Indian-sponsored khawarij” were neutralised. It said a comprehensive sanitisation operation was launched on February 25 to track down remaining militants linked to the group. “During the operation, our forces tracked down the khawarij on multiple routes and effectively engaged their locations. After an ensuing firefight, ten Indian-sponsored khawarij were eliminated,” the statement said. According to the ISPR, a cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the militants, who were allegedly involved in various terrorist activities in the area. The military said sanitisation operations were continuing to eliminate any other militants found in the region. The statement added that ongoing counterterrorism operations under the vision of "Azm-e-Istehkam," approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, would continue at full pace to eradicate what it described as foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country.
ISLAMABAD
staff report
around 30, security sources said. Officials confirmed that Pakistan’s security forces are fully prepared to defend the border and “respond decisively” to any act of aggression. The incident followed an attempted attack by Taliban-operated quadcopters on Pakistani security checkposts, which was successfully thwarted, security sources added. The Ministry of Information also confirmed the development on X, saying the security forces gave “an immediate and effective response” to the “unprovoked action” by the Afghan Taliban along the Pak–Afghan border.
“At least 30 personnel of the Afghan Taliban regime were killed in retaliatory action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, security sources said on Thursday, following unprovoked crossborder attacks on Pakistani positions Security forces continued a strong retaliatory operation in the Garsal sector of Mohmand along the Pak-Afghan border, according to security sources. In the Garsal sector, Pakistani forces targeted and destroyed Taliban check posts, killing an additional three militants. Verified reports indicate that the total number of Afghan Taliban casualties has risen to
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Pakistan on Wednesday expressed severe disappointment over what it termed India’s “callousness” towards the families of Pakistani and Indian nationals still awaiting justice nearly nineteen years after the Samjhauta Express bombing. At his weekly media briefing in Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said India’s response reflected indifference to the plight of victims’ families and raised serious questions about accountability in the case. He said the acquittal and exoneration of all four accused—including Swami Aseemanand, who had publicly confessed to masterminding the attack, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur—was “shameless” and deeply troubling. The spokesperson said the developments confirmed India’s role as an “official and political accomplice” in the heinous attack carried out on its soil against innocent Pakistani and other civilians.
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Pakistan, Italy, Spain and Greece join forces to curb illegal migration ISLAMABAD
staff report
Pakistan, Italy, Spain and Greece have agreed to adopt a coordinated strategy to curb illegal migration at all levels while expanding legal migration pathways, amid Islamabad’s intensified crackdown on irregular migration, particularly toward Europe, an official statement said on Thursday.
The announcement comes during Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s visit to Italy, where he attended a four-nation conference in Rome with his counterparts from the three European states. The meeting focused on tackling human smuggling networks and regulating migration flows, said a interior ministry’s statement. “Pakistan, Italy, Spain, and Greece agreed to adopt a coordinated strategy to curb illegal immigration at all levels,” the Interior Ministry
said. “The three countries also endorsed the Pakistani interior minister’s proposal to curb illegal migration through legal pathways,” the ministry said. The ministry noted that all three European states pledged full support to Pakistan to enhance its enforcement capacity under the European Union framework.
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dar arrives in Saudi arabia for oic moot on West bank annexation RIYADH
staff report
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday arrived in Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Extraordinary Open-Ended Ministerial Meeting is scheduled to be held in Jeddah and will deliberate on what Pakistan’s Foreign Office described as the “illegal decisions of the Israeli occupation authorities” to expand settlements, pursue annexation and attempt to impose sovereignty over the Occupied West Bank. According to the Foreign Office, Dar was received at King Abdulaziz International Airport by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the OIC Ambassador Fawad Sher, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmad Farooq and Consul General in Jeddah Syed Mustafa Rabbani. The meeting comes amid reports that the Israeli government has approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”—the first such move since the occupation of the territory in 1967.
opposition alliance decides on accepting ‘any govt offer’ to ‘end political deadlock’ ISLAMABAD
staff report
The opposition alliance, Tehreek Tahaffuze-Aiyeen Pakistan (TTAP), on Thursday decided to accept “any government offer” to hold negotiations aimed at ending the political deadlock amid the ongoing government-PTI impasse over the treatment of former prime minister Imran Khan, it emerges on Thursday. According to TTAP sources, the decision was taken during a consultative meeting of the alliance in Islamabad late on Wednesday night. The meeting was attended by National Assembly Opposition Leader and Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Senate Opposition Leader and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former Na-
TTAP warns of escalating crisis over Imran's health ISLAMABAD
staff report
The opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on Thursday warned that any criminal negligence regarding the health of Imran Khan could further aggravate the country’s political crisis. In a statement issued on social media platform X following its central committee meeting and Iftar gathering at the residence of TTAP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar in Islamabad, opposition leaders expressed
tional Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, TTAP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, and others. The TTAP sources said the participants conducted a detailed review of recent state-
grave concern over the former premier’s health and ongoing incarceration. The meeting was attended by National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council leader Sahibzada Hassan, and others.
continued on paGe 03 ments made by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah before agreeing to give a “positive response” to the government’s invitation for dialogue.
Earlier this week, Sanaullah, speaking on the floor of the Senate, reiterated the government’s offer for negotiations, noting that his party had even offered talks when the current opposition was in power. “Democracy progresses through dialogue, not deadlock,” he said, urging the opposition to actively participate in parliamentary committees and uphold the Charter of Democracy. In the same session, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas had urged the government to improve its engagement with jailed former premier Imran Khan. “I promise that we [opposition] will not let your government fall,” he pledged. TTAP sources indicated that opposition leaders are expected to establish contact with key government figures during the holy month of Ramadan.
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