Heavy combating has damaged out between Pakistani and Afghan forces at a number of areas on their border, and the rival sides declare to have captured and destroyed border posts in one of many worst border clashes in recent times.
The Taliban administration’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, stated at the least 58 Pakistani troopers had been killed in “retaliatory” assaults on Saturday evening, two days after blasts had been reported within the capital, Kabul, and the southeastern province of Paktika.
The Pakistani army admitted 23 of its troopers had been ‘martyred’ whereas claiming to kill 200 Taliban and affiliated “terrorists”. Earlier, Pakistan’s inside minister known as the Afghan assaults “unprovoked firing”.
The Taliban authorities has accused Pakistan of finishing up the current bombings. Pakistan has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.
Pakistan is claimed to have backed Taliban fighters throughout their insurrection towards the United States-led occupation of Afghanistan and was one in every of solely three nations that recognised the primary Taliban authorities from 1996 to 2001.
However the rise of assaults inside Pakistan because the return of the Taliban to energy in 2021 has strained their ties as Islamabad has accused the Taliban administration of offering protected haven to fighters from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistan Taliban. Kabul has denied the allegations.
So what’s the most recent on the combating? What triggered the clashes? And is the state of affairs anticipated to escalate additional?
What’s the most recent?
The Taliban assault on Pakistan border areas started about 10pm (17:00 GMT) on Saturday, and the change of fireplace befell at a number of areas.
Pakistani officers and state-run radio famous that these areas included Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir and Chitral – all in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – and Bahram Chah in Balochistan.
Mujahid stated Afghan forces killed 58 Pakistani troopers, captured 25 military posts and wounded 30 troopers of their assaults.
“The state of affairs on all official borders and de facto traces of Afghanistan is underneath full management, and unlawful actions have been largely prevented,” Mujahid stated at a information convention in Kabul.
Afghanistan’s TOLOnews channel reported on Sunday that the Ministry of Defence is deploying tanks and heavy weapons in a number of areas of Kunar province on the two,640km (1,640-mile) border, additionally known as the colonial-era Durand Line.
The Pakistani army on Sunday condemned what it known as “the cowardly motion” geared toward destabilising the border areas to facilitate terrorism”.
“Exercising the proper of self-defence, the alert Armed Forces of Pakistan repelled the assault decisively,” the Inter-Companies Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, stated in a press release.
“Final evening’s episode vindicates Pakistan’s long-standing place that the Taliban authorities is actively facilitating the terrorists,” ISPR stated.
At the least 29 troopers had been injured throughout the in a single day skirmishes, it added.
The Pakistani army claimed that a number of Taliban areas had been destroyed alongside the border and “21 hostile positions on the Afghan aspect of border had been additionally briefly bodily captured and a number of terrorist coaching camps, used to plan and facilitate assaults towards Pakistan, had been rendered inoperative”.
Whereas the change of fireplace is usually over, residents of Pakistan’s Kurram space reported intermittent gunfire.
What triggered the clashes?
On Thursday, Kabul was rocked by the sound of two explosions, and one other befell in a civilian market within the border province of Paktika, the Taliban Defence Ministry stated on Friday.
The Taliban authorities accused Pakistan of violating Afghanistan’s “sovereign territory”. Islamabad didn’t outright deny the blasts however requested the Taliban to curb the actions of the Pakistan Taliban.
A Pakistani safety official advised the Reuters information company air strikes had been carried out and their meant goal in Kabul was the chief of the TTP, who was travelling in a car.
Al Jazeera couldn’t independently confirm if the chief, Noor Wali Mehsud, had survived.
Pakistan and the Taliban, as soon as allies over shared safety pursuits, have grown more and more hostile over Islamabad’s declare that the Taliban is giving refuge to the TTP, an armed group accused of finishing up years of assaults inside Pakistan.
At the least 2,414 fatalities have been recorded within the first three quarters of this yr, in response to the Centre for Analysis and Safety Research (CRSS), an Islamabad-based assume tank.
In its newest report issued final month, CRSS stated that if the present pattern continues, 2025 could possibly be one of many deadliest years in Pakistan. Final yr, at the least 2,546 individuals had been killed in assaults.
The armed assaults have risen following the ouster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in April 2022. Khan’s authorities had involved the Taliban to get the TTP to conform to ceasefire deal. Although the ceasefire deal unraveled throughout Khan’s tenure, the frequency of assaults remained decrease.
Ties have deteriorated as Islamabad has elevated its use of air strikes inside Afghanistan to focus on hideouts it says are utilized by TTP fighters.
Relations have additionally soured over Pakistan’s determination to deport tens of hundreds of Afghan refugees. At the least 3 million Afghan refugees have taken shelter in Pakistan after fleeing a long time of battle.
What have each side stated?
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Afghan assaults late on Saturday, including that the nation’s military “not solely gave a befitting reply to Afghanistan’s provocations but additionally destroyed a number of of their posts, forcing them to retreat”.
Mohsin Naqvi, the inside minister, stated the Afghan assaults had been “unprovoked” and civilians had been fired at. Strongly condemning the Taliban’s assaults, he stated: “The firing by Afghan forces on civilian populations is a blatant violation of worldwide legal guidelines.”
“Afghanistan is taking part in a recreation of fireplace and blood,” he stated in a publish on X.
Enayatullah Khowarazmi, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence, stated its assaults on the Pakistan border posts had been a retaliatory operation, including that they concluded at midnight.
“If the opposing aspect once more violates Afghanistan’s airspace, our armed forces are ready to defend their airspace and can ship a robust response,” Khowarazmi stated.
What has been the worldwide response to the clashes?
The escalating tensions have prompted regional concern as they arrive amid quickly altering safety dynamics and relations in South Asia.
Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi known as on his nation’s two neighbours “to train restraint”.
“Our place is that each side should train restraint,” Araghchi stated throughout a dwell interview with state tv, including that “stability” between the nations “contributes to regional stability”.
Qatar’s Ministry of International Affairs additionally urged “each side to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy, train restraint, and work to comprise the disputes in a means that helps scale back rigidity, avoids escalation, and contributes to regional peace and stability”.
Expressing concern, the Saudi Ministry of International Affairs stated: “The dominion requires restraint, avoiding escalation, and embracing dialogue and knowledge to contribute to lowering tensions and sustaining safety and stability within the area.”
“The dominion affirms its help for all regional and worldwide efforts geared toward selling peace and stability and its continued dedication to making sure safety, which is able to obtain stability and prosperity for the brotherly Pakistani and Afghan peoples,” it added.
India, which is at present internet hosting Afghan International Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on his first go to there, has but to touch upon the border clashes. Islamabad has considered New Delhi’s engagement with the Taliban with suspicion.
Might these clashes escalate?
Asif Durrani, a former Pakistani ambassador and particular consultant to Afghanistan, advised Al Jazeera he believes “the possibilities of this conflict [spilling over] to one thing greater and extra critical [are] minimal.”
“Afghanistan doesn’t have any typical army capability when in comparison with Pakistan,” Durrani stated, including, “Guerrilla warfare will not be the identical as typical warfare, which is a complete totally different beast and one thing the place Pakistan is significantly forward of Afghanistan.”
Underlining that “diplomacy ought to all the time be given an opportunity, no matter how dire the state of affairs is,” Durrani famous that the TTP stays the central difficulty within the nations’ fraught relations.
“The Afghan authorities refuses to acknowledge their [the TTP’s] existence on their soil, and so long as that irritant stays current, the state of affairs will stay tense,” he added.
Abid Hussain reported from Islamabad
