ISLAMABAD – Tensions have escalated between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as Afghan ground forces launched a coordinated assault on Pakistani military positions early Tuesday. These attacks targeted 16 sites along the southwestern border, sparking intense clashes that resulted in the deaths of 67 Afghan security personnel and one Pakistani soldier. The hostilities marked the fifth day of continuous conflict between the two neighboring countries, according to official reports.

Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, stated that the Pakistani military “successfully repelled these multiple attacks” at the Afghan border. The assaults were concentrated in the southwestern districts of Qilla Saifullah, Nushki, and Chaman, located within Balochistan province, as Tarar detailed on the social media platform X. In response, Pakistani forces launched retaliatory strikes, reportedly killing 27 Afghan soldiers.

In addition to these confrontations, Afghan forces also attacked 25 sites within the northwestern border regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In these skirmishes, Pakistani troops reportedly killed 40 Afghan security force members, further intensifying the conflict.

As of now, there has been no official response from Kabul regarding the figures cited by Pakistan. However, both nations have consistently claimed to have inflicted significant losses on each other since the conflict reignited last Thursday. This resurgence of violence was triggered by Afghan retaliation against Pakistani airstrikes conducted the previous Sunday.

In a broader context of the ongoing clashes, Tarar mentioned on Monday that Pakistan’s military operations along the border have resulted in the deaths of 435 Afghan security personnel and the capture of 31 strategic positions, highlighting the severity and scale of the conflict.

However, Pakistan and Afghanistan have both repeatedly claimed to inflicted heavy losses on the other side since Thursday, when Afghanistan launched attacks in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday. Since then, Pakistan has carried out operations along the border, with Tarar on Monday, saying that 435 Afghan security force members were killed and that 31 positions have been captured in the fighting.

In recent days, Kabul has also said that its forces inflicted significant losses on Pakistan’s military.

The latest announcement about the killing of Afghan forces came a day after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari defended the ongoing strikes in Afghanistan, saying Islamabad had tried all forms of diplomacy before targeting militants operating from Afghan territory. He asked Kabul to disarm groups responsible for attacks in Pakistan.

Pakistan has described its operations as an “open war ” with Afghanistan, alarming the international community. The border area remains a stronghold for militant organizations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Pakistan has experienced a surge in violence in recent months, which it attributes to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which operates inside Pakistan and from Afghan territory. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe havens for the TTP, which Kabul denies.

The latest cross-border fighting ended a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October. Talks in Istanbul failed to produce a permanent agreement, and Pakistani authorities have said that operations will continue until Afghanistan’s Taliban government takes practical, verifiable steps to rein in the TTP and other militants behind violence in Pakistan.

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Abdul Qahar Afghan reported from Kabul. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story.