Border Conflicts Are Occurring in Afghanistan, Pakistan

Among the Afghanistan and Pakistan border, there have been several clashes that have resulted in Pakistani soldiers being killed. Other reports claim that Afghanistan had launched a counter attack after Pakistan had initiated firing. 

More Pakistani soldiers have been killed than members of the Taliban. According to BBC News, “The Pakistan military said that 23 of its soldiers were killed in the clashes. The Taliban said nine on its side were killed.”

Pakistan had sealed their border with Afghanistan after these clashes. “The Torkham crossing in the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chaman in the south-western province of Balochistan have been closed, security officials said,” DW reports. 

The capital of Afghanistan, Kabul has been hit with Pakistani airstrikes and the Kandahar province. A blast struck the Abdul Haq square of the city around 10 p.m. but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

Due to the crossfire, around 70% to 80% of residents had to flee the areas along the border. Even before a ceasefire agreement between the two nations, there seems to be fighting still continuing as 35 people have been wounded in explosions in the capital city of Kabul. 

In Doha, Qatar, the two nations have decided to extend their 48-hour ceasefire, the word comes after a suicide attack along the border that killed seven Pakistani soldiers while injuring 13 others. 

While in North Waziristan, a district within Pakistan`s Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, at a military camp, militants had launched an attack with one of them driving a vehicle equipped with an explosive, resulting in six of the militants dead. 

Afghan forces claim that they had captured Pakistani tanks after defeating their forces. “In a statement shared on X, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid also claimed that Afghan forces returned Pakistani fire in border areas, killing “a large number” of Pakistani soldiers, seizing “Pakistani weapons and tanks” and destroying Pakistani military installations,” NDTV reports. 

In response to this, Pakistan denies that the tank is from their army as their Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in an interview with Pakistani news channel, Geo News “They are showing videos claiming they have captured a Pakistani tank; we do not have those tanks in our inventory. They probably bought it from some junk dealer.”

Even since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021, tensions with Pakistan have been high with overnight fighting possibly escalating a broader conflict. Pakistan had accused Afghanistan of offering a haven to terrorist groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, in Kabul but they deny this accusation. The violence could also be coming from the TTP. They are a separate group allied with the Taliban in Afghanistan. 

When the Indian subcontinent split into India and Pakistan in August, 1947, relations between the two countries were poor. There was always mutual mistrust, border disputes and conflicts involving militant groups.