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By MUNIR AHMED and ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Tensions escalated along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Friday as forces from both nations engaged in intense cross-border skirmishes. Each side claimed significant casualties in this ongoing conflict, with Pakistan labeling the situation as an “open war.” This marks the deadliest confrontation to date between the two countries.
Despite repeated calls for moderation from the international community, the fighting has persisted for nine consecutive days without any signs of abatement.
The Taliban-led Defense Ministry in Afghanistan reported that its forces successfully “destroyed numerous Pakistani military posts” across several border provinces, including Nangarhar, Kandahar, Kunar, Paktia, and Khost, resulting in the deaths of many Pakistani soldiers.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s state media highlighted that the nation’s air force and ground troops have inflicted substantial damage in their recent strikes against Afghan forces and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group.
Islamabad confirmed the continuation of the conflict, stating that their military operations have caused significant losses to Afghan forces, though further details were not disclosed.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban government in Afghanistan’s capital of harboring the TTP, a charge Kabul denies. Since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the TTP has stepped up its attacks within Pakistan.
Islamabad says its military operations, which started last week, will continue until Afghanistan takes verifiable steps to rein in the TTP and other militants operating from its territory.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan has urged for a halt in the fighting, saying it’s worsening Afghanistan’s already grave humanitarian situation. On Friday, the mission known as UNAMA said on X that so far, 56 civilians have been killed inside Afghanistan.
Several people were injured Friday when Afghan mortar shells landed in a village in Mohmand, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local official Mohammad Asif said.
Casualty claims have varied widely. This week, Afghanistan said its forces had killed 150 Pakistani soldiers since the fighting began, while 28 Afghan troops were killed.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on X that Pakistan’s military has killed 527 Afghan soldiers.
The border region, where militant such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State are also active, is largely inaccessible to the media and The Associated Press could not independently verify the conflicting claims.
It remains unclear whether efforts by other Muslim nations will get Kabul and Islamabad to the negotiating table anytime soon.
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Local residents examine damages to their house due to mortar shell fired by Afghan forces, at a village in Khyber, a district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering with Afghanistan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/S.B. Shah)
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Local residents examine damages to their house due to mortar shell fired by Afghan forces, at a village in Khyber, a district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering with Afghanistan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/S.B. Shah)
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to mediate a new ceasefire in a call with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
And a day later, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim spoke with Afghanistan’s Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, according to the Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
The ongoing clashes ended an earlier ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October, when the two neighbors had again come close to a war. The truce, signed in Qatar at the time, was followed by six days of talks in Istanbul, which resulted in an agreement to extend the truce and hold a third round of negotiations in November.
Afghan reported from Kabul. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Ishtaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
