Afghanistan-Pakistan border clashes: What we know so far

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Heavy warring has breached retired betwixt Pakistani and Afghan forces astatine aggregate locations connected their border, and the rival sides assertion to person captured and destroyed borderline posts successful 1 of the worst borderline clashes successful caller years.

The Taliban administration’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said astatine slightest 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed successful “retaliatory” attacks connected Saturday night, 2 days aft blasts were reported successful the capital, Kabul, and the southeastern state of Paktika.

The Pakistani subject admitted 23 of its soldiers were ‘martyred’ portion claiming to termination 200 Taliban and affiliated “terrorists”. Earlier, Pakistan’s interior curate called the Afghan attacks “unprovoked firing”.

The Taliban authorities has accused Pakistan of carrying retired the caller bombings. Pakistan has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.

Pakistan is said to person backed Taliban fighters during their rebellion against the United States-led concern of Afghanistan and was 1 of lone 3 countries that recognised the archetypal Taliban authorities from 1996 to 2001.

But the emergence of attacks wrong Pakistan since the instrumentality of the Taliban to powerfulness successful 2021 has strained their ties arsenic Islamabad has accused the Taliban medication of providing harmless haven to fighters from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), oregon Pakistan Taliban. Kabul has denied the allegations.

So what’s the latest connected the fighting? What triggered the clashes? And is the concern expected to escalate further?

What’s the latest?

The Taliban onslaught connected Pakistan borderline areas began astir 10pm (17:00 GMT) connected Saturday, and the speech of occurrence took spot astatine aggregate locations.

Pakistani officials and state-run vigor noted that those locations included Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir and Chitral – each successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa state – and Bahram Chah successful Balochistan.

Mujahid said Afghan forces killed 58 Pakistani soldiers, captured 25 service posts and wounded 30 soldiers successful their attacks.

“The concern connected each authoritative borders and de facto lines of Afghanistan is nether implicit control, and amerciable activities person been mostly prevented,” Mujahid said astatine a quality league successful Kabul.

Afghanistan’s TOLOnews transmission reported connected Sunday that the Ministry of Defence is deploying tanks and dense weapons successful respective areas of Kunar state connected the 2,640km (1,640-mile) border, besides referred to arsenic the colonial-era Durand Line.

The Pakistan subject connected Sunday said much than 200 Taliban and affiliated “terrorists” were “neutralised”.

It added that astatine slightest 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed portion “defending territorial integrity of our beloved country”, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said successful a statement.

At slightest 29 soldiers are injured successful during overnight skirmishes, it added.

Earlier Pakistani authorities media reported 19 Afghan borderline posts were captured.

“The Pakistani service besides wholly destroyed the Taliban’s Manojba campy battalion headquarters, Jandusar post, Turkmenzai campy and Kharchar Fort,” Radio Pakistan reported, quoting information sources.

“We fired archetypal airy and past dense artillery astatine 4 points on the border,” a elder authoritative successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told the AFP quality agency. “Pakistani forces responded with dense occurrence and changeable down 3 Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives.”

While the speech of occurrence is mostly over, residents of Pakistan’s Kurram country reported intermittent gunfire.

What triggered the clashes?

On Thursday, Kabul was rocked by the dependable of 2 explosions, and different took spot successful a civilian marketplace successful the borderline state of Paktika, the Taliban Defence Ministry said connected Friday.

The Taliban authorities accused Pakistan of violating Afghanistan’s “sovereign territory”. Islamabad did not outright contradict the blasts but asked the Taliban to curb the activities of the Pakistan Taliban.

A Pakistani information authoritative told the Reuters quality bureau aerial strikes were carried retired and their intended people successful Kabul was the person of the TTP, who was travelling successful a vehicle.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify if the leader, Noor Wali Mehsud, had survived.

Pakistan and the Taliban, erstwhile allies implicit shared information interests, person grown progressively hostile implicit Islamabad’s assertion that the Taliban is giving refuge to the TTP, an equipped radical accused of carrying retired years of attacks wrong Pakistan.

At slightest 2,414 fatalities person been recorded successful the archetypal 3 quarters of this year, according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), an Islamabad-based deliberation tank.

In its latest study issued past month, CRSS said that if the existent inclination continues, 2025 could beryllium 1 of the deadliest years successful Pakistan. Last year, astatine slightest 2,546 radical were killed successful attacks.

The equipped attacks person risen pursuing the ouster of erstwhile Prime Minister Imran Khan successful April 2022. Khan’s authorities had progressive the Taliban to get the TTP to hold to ceasefire deal. Though the ceasefire woody unraveled during Khan’s tenure, the frequence of attacks remained lower.

Ties person deteriorated arsenic Islamabad has accrued its usage of aerial strikes wrong Afghanistan to people hideouts it says are utilized by TTP fighters.

What person some sides said?

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Afghan attacks precocious connected Saturday, adding that the country’s service “not lone gave a befitting reply to Afghanistan’s provocations but besides destroyed respective of their posts, forcing them to retreat”.

Mohsin Naqvi, the interior minister, said the Afghan attacks were “unprovoked” and civilians were fired at. Strongly condemning the Taliban’s attacks, helium said: “The firing by Afghan forces connected civilian populations is simply a blatant usurpation of planetary laws.”

“Afghanistan is playing a crippled of occurrence and blood,” helium said successful a station connected X.

Enayatullah Khowarazmi, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence, said its attacks connected the Pakistan borderline posts were a retaliatory operation, adding that they concluded astatine midnight.

“If the opposing broadside again violates Afghanistan’s airspace, our equipped forces are prepared to support their airspace and volition present a beardown response,” Khowarazmi said.

What has been the planetary effect to the clashes?

The escalating tensions person prompted determination interest arsenic they travel amid rapidly changing information dynamics and relations successful South Asia.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called connected his country’s 2 neighbours “to workout restraint”.

“Our presumption is that some sides indispensable workout restraint,” Araghchi said during a unrecorded interrogation with authorities television, adding that “stability” betwixt the countries “contributes to determination stability”.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs besides urged “both sides to prioritise dialog and diplomacy, workout restraint, and enactment to incorporate the disputes successful a mode that helps trim tension, avoids escalation, and contributes to determination bid and stability”.

Expressing concern, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The kingdom calls for restraint, avoiding escalation, and embracing dialog and contented to lend to reducing tensions and maintaining information and stableness successful the region.”

“The kingdom affirms its enactment for each determination and planetary efforts aimed astatine promoting bid and stableness and its continued committedness to ensuring security, which volition execute stableness and prosperity for the brotherly Pakistani and Afghan peoples,” it added.

India, which is presently hosting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi connected his archetypal sojourn there, has yet to remark connected the borderline clashes. Islamabad has viewed New Delhi’s engagement with the Taliban with suspicion.

Could these clashes escalate?

Asif Durrani, a erstwhile Pakistani ambassador and peculiar typical to Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera helium believes “the chances of this clash [spilling over] to thing bigger and much superior [are] minimal.”

“Afghanistan does not person immoderate accepted subject capableness erstwhile compared to Pakistan,” Durrani said, adding, “Guerrilla warfare is not the aforesaid arsenic accepted warfare, which is simply a full antithetic beast and thing wherever Pakistan is considerably up of Afghanistan.”

Underlining that “diplomacy should ever beryllium fixed a chance, careless of however dire the concern is,” Durrani noted that the TTP remains the cardinal contented successful the countries’ fraught relations.

“The Afghan authorities refuses to admit their [the TTP’s] beingness connected their soil, and arsenic agelong arsenic that irritant remains present, the concern volition stay tense,” helium added.

Abid Hussain reported from Islamabad

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