Dozens of soldiers and civilians have been killed after fresh clashes broke out along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and Islamabad carried out retaliatory airstrikes on the Afghan capital, Kabul, and Kandahar province.
The two sides declared a ceasefire by Wednesday night after the latest outbreak of violence, which came after the deadliest cross-border clashes in years over the weekend.
Both countries accused the other of sparking the violence. Pakistan’s military said the Afghan Taliban had carried out “unprovoked fire” on major border posts close to the Kurram district and the crossing between the Chaman and Spin Boldak districts on Tuesday evening. It said it had retaliated with mortar fire and drone strikes, killing 20 Taliban fighters.
Pakistani security sources confirmed that the air force had also carried out strikes on headquarters of Taliban forces in Kandahar province, where the cross-firing reportedly began, and on targets in Kabul.
Images showed the “friendship gate” at the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing had sustained significant damage in the attacks, and it remained closed for the day. Hundreds of people fled Pakistani border villages overnight and local residents reported cross-border firing, strikes and drone deployment that lasted into the evening. In Kandahar province, residents said many people along the border areas had also been fleeing.
The Afghan Taliban claimed Pakistan had “once again” launched the attacks, killing more than a dozen civilians, and they said they had killed several Pakistani soldiers and seized several border posts. Pakistan rebuffed the claim as “outrageous and blatant lies”.
The heaviest casualties on Pakistan’s side were reported around the city of Chaman, which is just a few miles from the border and bore the brunt of heavy shelling from the Afghan side.
Naqeeb Ullah, a resident in Chaman living just over a mile from the border, said the sky had been lit up with shelling and gunfire until the morning. “The sounds were so loud that it felt like it was happening in front of our house; all our doors and windows were shaking from the impact,” he said.
Ullah said heavy firing had destroyed a local school close to the border and that he knew of several civilian fatalities. “I know a family of two or three people who were killed in attacks and a 11-year-old was badly injured in the attack,” he said.
The resumption of the deadly clashes and airstrikes has pushed the two once-amicable neighbours the closest to conflict with each other in years and has sparked fears of wider regional instability.
Pakistan has maintained a longstanding relationship with the Afghan Taliban, sheltering many of the Islamist militant group’s leaders after the US invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan was among those backing the Taliban when they retook power in 2021.
However, ties between the two have severely deteriorated as Islamabad has accused Kabul of giving sanctuary to the Pakistan Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP has been behind a rising number of deadly attacks in Pakistan in recent years. Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering TTP leadership and ignoring TTP training camps in Afghanistan, as well as giving finance and arms to the group, a claim Kabul denies.
Last week, Pakistan was accused of carrying out two strikes on Afghan soil, including in Kabul, which were believed to be targeting TTP camps and leadership. Pakistan has neither denied or confirmed it was behind the strikes.
In response, Taliban forces retaliated over the weekend with extensive firing at Pakistani troops stationed at border posts, prompting a heavy-handed response from Pakistan. Dozens of casualties were reported on both sides.
The violence flared up again on Tuesday night, starting in Kurram district, when the Afghan Taliban were accused of cross-border shelling.
Javed Ali, a nearby resident, said: “The firings and border clashes erupted at 8pm and kept ongoing from both sides for around two to three hours. We stayed inside our houses as it was terrifying.”
Dawood Achakzai, a Chaman resident, said he had been woken at 3am by the sounds of heaving shelling and mortar fire. “The firing and shelling shook the city, people here have been terrified,” he said.
He said those living in villages close to the border had evacuated. “Villages on the Pakistani side were hit by mortar shells and heavy firing. Hundreds of families have left the villages. We are trying to help people to vacate and shift to safer places,” he said. “Since the 2021 Taliban captured power, we have not witnessed such heavy border clashes.”
By Wednesday night, both sides had agreed to a temporary 48-hour ceasefire, effective from 6pm. A statement by the Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs said both sides would engage in dialogue to find “a positive solution to this complex but solvable issue”.
