Firing ceased at Torkham border crossing and calmed across Kandahar, Zabul, Helmand, and Nimroz regions between 7:45:51 PM and 8:15:29 PM UTC on February 26, 2026, with no confirmed deaths but civilian injuries reported on both sides, according to sources cited by taahir_khan on X. Pakistan security sources reported destroying Taliban hideouts in Kurram sector, killing 44 Afghan Taliban overall including 8 more in the window, per PTVNewsOfficial on X. Taliban sources via FitratHamd on X claimed the 203 Mansouri and 201 Khalid bin Walid Corps captured one headquarters and 19 Pakistani outposts, plus four abandoned ones set ablaze, in Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Kunar, Nuristan, Nangarhar, and Torkham, killing 55 Pakistani soldiers with 23 bodies and others captured, seizing weapons, destroying one tank, during ongoing retaliatory operations. A Pakistani officer was shown inside a captured Taliban post, according to ThePakistanNews on Telegram. Unverified reports emerged of Pakistan Air Force airstrikes in Kabul and Kandahar targeting Taliban, per news_activity and KazmiWajahat on X, alongside predictions of massive aerial response in coming hours from War_Analysts citing Muhammad Malik. Separate Taliban claims included seizing Lahore port with donkey carts and slingshots, posted satirically by MuftiPopalzai on X. These developments follow Pakistan's Operation Ghazab Lil Haqq reporting 36 Taliban killed including in Mohmand and Spinwam in the prior 7:15-7:45 PM window, per Tarar Attaullah, and earlier claims by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid of 40 Pakistani deaths in Kunar, as detailed in previous updates.
