Pakistan Afghanistan War Live Updates: US backs Pakistan's 'right to defend itself' against Afghan Taliban government

Pakistan-Afghanistan War Live Updates: Pakistan has launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban following what it described as “unprovoked aggression” along the border, as clashes between the two neighbours intensify.Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said further counter-attacks were under way. “Every aggression will be firmly countered,” he said, reiterating remarks by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson on foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi. Zaidi said 72 Afghan Taliban combatants had been killed and more than 120 injured in authorised counter-strikes. He added that 16 Taliban posts had been destroyed and seven captured, along with a large ammunition depot, a battalion headquarters and a sector headquarters. More than 36 tanks, artillery guns and armoured personnel carriers were also destroyed, he claimed.State broadcaster PTV News earlier reported lower figures, saying 58 “Afghan kharjis” had been killed and more than 100 injured, while Radio Pakistan put the death toll at 44. Tarar confirmed that two Pakistani security personnel had been killed and three injured.Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the armed forces were delivering a “crushing response” and urged political unity at home. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said Pakistan would seek peace with neighbours “wherever possible” but would not hesitate to counter threats.