Pakistan, Afghan forces exchange heavy fire along the border amid rising tensions

Intense clashes broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday after Afghan forces reportedly launched an attack on Pakistani posts along the Durand line.

According to Pakistani security forces, Afghan forces opened fire without provocation, prompting a strong and immediate response from Pakistan’s military.

Afghan forces targeted Pakistani posts at Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, and Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baramcha in Balochistan. The firing was aimed at facilitating the movement of militant formations across the border, the sources said.

"Pakistan’s alert and well-prepared border posts swiftly returned fire, launching a strong and effective response that is still ongoing," the sources confirmed.

The security officials said Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes destroyed several Afghan border posts, killing dozens of Taliban fighters and foreign militants. They added that Taliban troops abandoned multiple posts, leaving bodies scattered across the area.

“This aggression by Afghanistan comes at a time when its foreign minister is visiting India,” the sources said.

Afghanistan’s TOLO News reported that the Taliban’s Khalid bin Walid Corps launched an assault on Pakistani security posts near the Durand Line in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. The corps said the assault was “in retaliation for Pakistan’s recent airstrikes on Kabul.”

Reports from Afghanistan indicated casualties, with hospital staff, including emergency and operating theatre personnel, being urgently called in.

Pakistani authorities have yet to issue an official statement on the clashes.

Sources in Afghanistan’s Zazai Aryub district of Paktia also reported ongoing fighting between the Afghan and Pakistani forces. Pakistani security sources confirmed the conflict began after an attack on a border post at Gawi, prompting retaliatory fire from Pakistan.

The clashes come a day after Afghanistan accused Pakistan of cross-border airstrikes.

Responding to a journalist’s question about the reported strikes, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, on Friday, did not confirm the attacks but stressed Pakistan’s right to defend its citizens.

“I have made it clear that Afghanistan is being used as a base for terrorism, and there is proof of this,” he said. “The Pakistani people must be protected, and we will take the necessary steps to ensure their safety.”