Intense firefights broke out late Saturday along multiple stretches of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border after Taliban forces attacked Pakistani military posts, according to officials from both sides. The clashes followed a Pakistani airstrike earlier this week targeting the leader of the Pakistani Taliban in Kabul.
Pakistani security officials said their forces “responded with full force” to what they called unprovoked attacks, adding that heavy gun and artillery fire lit up the night sky. Taliban officials claimed they had captured three Pakistani border posts, while Islamabad said it had destroyed several Afghan positions.
Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry described the operation as a “retaliation” for Pakistan’s violation of Afghan airspace, warning that future incursions would provoke “a strong response.”
Tensions between the neighbors have escalated amid Islamabad’s accusations that the Afghan Taliban shelters Pakistani Taliban militants, a charge Kabul denies. The violence comes days after the Taliban’s foreign minister visited India — the first such visit since 2021 — deepening Pakistan’s concerns over shifting regional alliances.
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