Clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces have killed and wounded dozens in a remote border area, as hostilities deepen between the two former allies.
Both sides accused the other of triggering the deadly violence overnight Tuesday that spanned southeastern Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak district and Pakistan’s Chaman district.
In a post on X, Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistani forces of initiating the border fighting by firing “light and heavy weapons” at Afghanistan, killing 12 civilians and injuring more than 100.
Ali Mohammad Haqmal, a press spokesman in Spin Boldak district, put the civilian death toll at 15. The AFP news agency quoted a district hospital official as saying 80 women and children are among the wounded.
Mujahid claimed Afghani forces returned fire, killing “a large number” of Pakistani soldiers, seizing Pakistani weapons and tanks and destroying Pakistani military installations.
But Pakistani authorities blamed the Afghan Taliban for first firing on a Pakistani military post and other areas near the border, causing the clashes that also wounded four of its own civilians. The Reuters news agency quoted unnamed security officials as saying six Pakistani soldiers were killed in the violence, which one official said lasted around five hours.
Najibullah Khan, a resident of Pakistan’s Chaman district, said the clashes forced some people living near the border to flee. “People are in a very difficult situation. Shells are falling in people’s homes,” he said.
Pakistan’s army
In a statement, Pakistan’s army said its forces had “effectively repulsed” the attack from Afghanistan’s Taliban, killing from 15 to 20 of their members and injuring others. It also said it had repelled separate Afghan Taliban attacks earlier in the night in Kurram district further north.
“The insinuations that the attack was initiated by Pakistan, are outrageous and blatant lies, just like the claims of capturing Pakistani posts or equipment,” said the military statement. “The Armed Forces stand resolute and fully prepared to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan.”
Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from the Torkham crossing on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, called the latest fighting a “serious escalation” that threatens to “lead to something much bigger”.
“The population on both sides are wary of the new round of escalations,” Hyder said.
The conflict had subsided as of 05:30 GMT, according to Afghanistan’s Taliban.
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been especially fraught since Saturday, when both sides traded fire across multiple border regions, resulting in dozens of casualties on each side.
Although the clashes halted on Sunday after appeals from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, most border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained closed.
Over the weekend, Kabul said that in retaliation for what it called repeated violations of Afghan territory and airspace, it targeted several Pakistani military posts and killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.
Pakistan’s military reported lower figures, saying it lost 23 soldiers and killed more than 200 “Taliban and affiliated terrorists” in retaliatory fire along the frontier.
Pakistan accuses Kabul of harbouring fighters with the Taliban-allied Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, which has carried out numerous deadly attacks in Pakistan.
Kabul denies the charge, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.
Tensions between the two states have also been amplified by a recent visit by Afghani Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to Pakistan’s rival India, a trip Islamabad has “taken strong note of”, said Al Jazeera’s Hyder.
Muttaqi addressed Pakistan-Afghanistan relations during a press conference in India, saying while both countries want a positive relationship, “there are certain groups in Pakistan that are trying to stir up unrest”.
