‘Heavy clashes’ at Afghanistan-Pakistan border as Taliban forces retaliate days after Pak strikes on Kabul

Heavy clashes erupted between the Afghan and Pakistani security forces on their border late Saturday (Oct 11) as Taliban forces carried out retaliatory attacks after accusing Islamabad of launching strikes on Kabul. The clashes, which are ongoing, were confirmed by Taliban officials from bordering provinces including Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost, and Helmand. The conflict comes amid Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to India.

“In retaliation for the air strikes by Pakistani forces”, Taliban border forces in the east “engaged in heavy clashes against Pakistani forces' posts in various border areas”, the Afghan military said in a statement.

A senior Pakistan official from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, told AFP, “This evening, Taliban forces began using weapons. We fired first 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,” he added.

This comes after two powerful explosions shook central Kabul and another in the southeast of the country on Thursday evening (Oct 9), approximately 48 hours after Pakistan’s big threat to the country. The following day, Afghan defence ministry blamed Pakistan, accusing it of “violating its sovereignty.”

In a statement on Friday (Oct 10), Muttaqi said, “There has been an attack near the border in remote areas. We consider this act of Pakistan wrong. Afghanistan has peace and progress after 40 years. The courage of Afghans should not be tested. If someone wants to do this, they should ask the Soviet Union, America, and NATO so that they can explain that it is not good to play games with Afghanistan.”

While Islamabad did not confirm being behing the attacks, it told Kabul “to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil.”

Pakistan has accused TTP, which trained in Afghanistan and share the same ideology as Afghan Taliban, of killing hundreds of its troops since 2021.

In recent months, TTP militants have intensified their attacks against Pakistani security forces in the mountainous regions bordering Afghanistan.