Pakistan-Afghanistan Border Conflict Escalates: 15 Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Taliban Retaliation After Kabul Airstrikes

Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes within its territory.

New Delhi:

Fifteen Pakistani soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan's Helmand province as Taliban forces retaliated against Pakistani airstrikes in Afghan territory, including the capital Kabul.

According to Mawlawi Mohammad Qasim Riaz, spokesperson for the Helmand provincial government, Afghan forces killed 15 Pakistani soldiers during nighttime retaliatory operations near the Durand Line in Bahrampur district. He reported that Afghan forces captured three Pakistani military outposts during this operation and seized weapons and ammunition.

In response to Pakistan's recent airstrikes in Kabul and Paktika provinces, Afghan forces have begun targeting Pakistani posts across multiple provinces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, including Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Paktia, Khost, Nangarhar, and Kunar.

Three explosions occurred in Afghanistan on Thursday - two in Kabul and one in southeastern Paktika. The Taliban-run defense ministry blamed Islamabad for these attacks, accusing Pakistan of violating Afghanistan's sovereignty.

"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, stated the Afghan military.

Defense ministry spokesman Enayat Khowarazm later told AFP that the "successful" operations had concluded at midnight. "If the opposing side violates Afghanistan's territory again, our armed forces are ready to defend their territory and will respond firmly."

While Islamabad did not confirm responsibility for Thursday's attacks, it called on Kabul "to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban on its soil."

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, is an ideological ally of the Afghan Taliban and supported it during the 2001-2021 conflict.

Islamabad has accused the TTP of killing hundreds of Pakistani soldiers since 2021. "This evening, Taliban forces began using weapons. We fired first light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border," a senior official in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province told AFP.

"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 added.

According to AFP, TTP militants have intensified their campaign of violence against Pakistani security forces in the mountainous border regions in recent months.

Pakistan alleges that Afghanistan has failed to expel militants using its territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, a claim denied by Kabul.

A UN report earlier this year indicated that the TTP "receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities," apparently referring to the Taliban government in Kabul.

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told the National Assembly last week that efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop supporting the TTP had failed. "We will no longer tolerate this. United, we must respond to those facilitating them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or Afghan soil," he declared.

On Saturday, the TTP claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in northwest Pakistan that resulted in the deaths of 20 security officials and three civilians, according to AFP.