Heavy border clashes erupt days after Pakistan's airstrikes in Afghanistan

Tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border escalated after both sides exchanged heavy gunfire, days after Pakistan struck inside Afghanistan, targeting a suspected cross-border terrorist network.

According to security sources, clashes erupted Tuesday afternoon along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier after Afghan forces launched an assault on Pakistani posts from Nangarhar province in Afghanistan to Khyber district in Pakistan.

Sources said that mortars and rockets landed on Pakistani territory in the Jarobi Kandao and Zakhakhel areas of Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, prompting a response from Pakistani troops.

The firing between border forces spread to the areas of Wragha, Maro Sar, Shahkot and Zakhakhel on the Khyber border as both sides used heavy weapons.

Sources and local residents also reported clashes taking place in the Shakot area of Afghanistan’s Nazyan district, near the border.

Zabihullah Noorani, Director of Information and Culture for Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, said that earlier today, Pakistani forces fired shots toward Afghanistan in the Shahkot area of Nazyan district. “Our border forces returned fire, but the clashes have now stopped, and no casualties have been reported on our side,” he added.

However, Pakistan Prime Minister's spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, said it was the Afghan forces who initiated "unprovoked" firing on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

In a post on X, Zaidi said: "The Afghan Taliban regime initiated unprovoked firing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border in Torkham & Tirah sub-sectors. Pakistan’s security forces responded immediately & effectively, silencing the Taliban aggression. Any further provocation will be responded to immediately and severely. InshaAllah, Pakistan will continue to protect its citizens and guard its territorial integrity."

Pakistan targets 'cross-border terrorist havens'

Over the weekend, Pakistan carried out airstrikes targeting camps of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan after consistent attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in the capital city, Islamabad.

Pakistani security sources reported that more than 80 militants were killed in the strikes.

Pakistan has long maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan soil, a claim that Kabul has consistently denied.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated following a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year, which prompted Taliban forces to attack areas along Pakistan’s border.

In retaliation, Islamabad carried out cross-border shelling, resulting in casualties and infrastructure damage on both sides, and leading to the suspension of trade as border crossings were closed on October 12.

Since then, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have held multiple rounds of negotiations in Qatar and Turkey, but the talks have so far failed to yield a resolution.