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Overnight clashes at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan resulted in the deaths of numerous fighters, marking the most significant conflict since the Taliban assumed control of Kabul.
The Pakistani military reported that 23 of its troops were killed during the skirmishes, while the Taliban stated that nine of their fighters lost their lives.
The confrontations began when Afghan forces fired upon Pakistani border outposts late Saturday, prompting Pakistan to retaliate with gunfire and artillery.
What is causing the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan?
According to Pakistani security forces and the Taliban, Pakistan conducted airstrikes last week in Kabul and a market in eastern Afghanistan, which led to retaliatory attacks two days later.
Pakistan has not officially acknowledged the airstrikes.
The two sides have repeatedly clashed in border regions since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, but airspace violations deep into Afghan territory would mark a significant escalation.
Pakistan has been demanding the Taliban take action against militants who have stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operate from havens in Afghanistan.
The Taliban denies Pakistani militants are present on its soil.
Militancy has increased in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since the withdrawal of United States-led troops from Afghanistan in 2021 and the return of the Taliban government.
The Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. Their intensified campaign against Pakistani security forces this year is on track to be the most lethal in over ten years.
Violence in the border region has “plunged relations between the neighbours to an all-time low”, said Maleeha Lodhi, a former senior Pakistani diplomat.
“But there will have to be a return to diplomacy to find a resolution to the confrontation,” she told Agence France-Presse.
The TTP is a separate but closely linked group to the Afghan Taliban, which Pakistan says operates from Afghan soil with impunity.
A United Nations report this year said the TTP “receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities”, referring to the Taliban government in Kabul.
More than 500 people, including 311 troops and 73 cops, have been killed in attacks between January and 15 September, a Pakistan military spokesperson said on Friday.
Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament on Thursday several efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop backing the TTP had failed.
“The Pakistani government and army’s patience has run out.”
