Violent clashes erupted along the Pak-Afghan border late on Saturday night after unprovoked attacks by Afghan Taliban forces targeted multiple posts, with the Pakistan Army retaliating strongly, said security forces.
The clashes broke out after Kabul accused Islamabad of carrying out air strikes on the Afghan capital earlier this week, according to Taliban border forces.
“In retaliation for the air strikes by Pakistani forces“, Taliban border forces in the east are “engaged in heavy clashes against Pakistani forces’ posts in various border areas”, the Afghan military said in a statement.
Taliban officials from the provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktika, Khost, and Helmand — all located on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan — confirmed that clashes were ongoing.
Islamabad did not confirm that it was behind the attacks, but called on Kabul “to stop harbouring the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on its soil”.
“This evening, Taliban forces began using weapons. We fired first light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border,” a senior official in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa told AFP.
“Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire and shot down three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives. Intense fighting continues, but so far, no casualties have been reported,” he continued.
