Islamabad/Kabul: At least 15 Pakistani soldiers are supposed to have been killed and several others injured after Afghan forces launched a “retaliatory” strike across the Durand Line in the Helmand province on Saturday night.
Maulvi Mohammad Qasim Riaz, spokesperson for the Afghanistan’s Helmand provincial government, told the media that Afghan forces carried out the operation near the Durand Line in the Bahramcha district. Afghan troops also captured three Pakistani security posts during the attack, he claimed.
He also claimed that the Taliban fighters captured a large number of weapons and huge quantities of ammunition during the operation.
It has been reported that the Afghan forces conducted attacks on Pakistani posts across Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Paktia, Khost, Nangarhar, and Kunar provinces in response to Pakistan’s recent air strikes in Kabul and Paktika. The operations concluded at midnight.
Afghan authorities had accused Pakistan of bombing the capital, Kabul, and a market in the country’s east. Pakistan did not claim responsibility for the assault.
According Pakistan, the attacks began when Taliban forces allegedly opened fire on several Pakistani border posts late Saturday. The firing took place at several key posts, including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, Chitral in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Bahramcha in Balochistan, The Express Tribune reported.
The Pakistani military said that the firing was aimed at facilitating the illegal entry of Khwarij — the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — into Pakistani territory.
“The counteroffensive effectively targeted and destroyed multiple Afghan posts at border. Dozens of Afghan soldiers and Khwarij were killed in retaliatory fire,” it was reported by Express Tribune, as cited by ANI.
Pakistani interior minister Mohsin Naqvi called the Afghan attacks “unprovoked” and said that Pakistani forces were responding “with a stone for every brick”.
“Firing by Afghan forces on civilian population is a blatant violation of international laws. Pakistan’s brave forces have given a prompt and effective response that no provocation will be tolerated,” he said in a post on X.
Afghanistan has called the strikes successful and warned of further attacks. “In retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul,” Taliban forces are engaged “in heavy clashes against Pakistani security forces in various areas” along the border, the Afghan military said in a statement, according to news agency AFP.
Taliban defence ministry spokesman Enayat Khowarazm also told AFP the “successful” operations had ended at midnight. But he warned: “If the opposing side violates Afghanistan’s territory again, our armed forces are ready to defend their territory and will respond firmly.”
Pakistan has urged Kabul “to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil.” The TTP, which has received combat training in Afghanistan and shares the Afghan Taliban’s ideology, is accused by Pakistan of killing hundreds of its soldiers since 2021.
