Taliban, Pakistani Troops Clash Along Border After Kabul Accuses Islamabad of Air Strikes

Fierce clashes erupted along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border on Saturday after Taliban forces launched armed reprisals against Pakistani troops, accusing Islamabad of conducting air strikes inside Afghan territory.

The fighting came two days after explosions rocked Kabul and the country’s southeast, which Afghanistan’s Taliban-led defence ministry blamed on Pakistan.

Kabul accused its neighbour of violating its sovereignty through aerial attacks.

“In retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul, Taliban forces are engaged in heavy clashes against Pakistani security forces in various areas along the border,” the Afghan military said in a statement.

Islamabad has not confirmed responsibility for the reported air strikes but urged Kabul to stop “harbouring the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil.”

The TTP, which shares ideological ties with the Afghan Taliban, is accused by Pakistan of killing hundreds of soldiers since 2021 and launching cross-border attacks from Afghan territory.

Taliban officials in the border provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost, and Helmand confirmed that gun battles were ongoing.

A senior Pakistani security official in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa told AFP that hostilities began when Taliban forces “fired light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border.”

“Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire and shot down three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives.

Intense fighting continues, but so far, no casualties have been reported,” the official said.

In recent months, Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks by the TTP in its northwestern border regions. Islamabad accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of sheltering the group — an allegation Afghan authorities repeatedly deny.

Earlier this year, a United Nations report said the TTP “receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities,” referring to the Taliban administration in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, told parliament on Thursday that diplomatic efforts to persuade the Afghan Taliban to end support for the TTP had failed.

“We will not tolerate this any longer,” Asif declared. “United, we must respond to those facilitating them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or Afghan soil.”

Hours before Saturday’s cross-border fighting, the TTP claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks in several northwestern districts of Pakistan that killed 20 security officials and three civilians.