(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Islamabad/Kabul ~ Heavy fighting erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late Saturday as Taliban forces launched coordinated assaults on Pakistani military posts, accusing Islamabad of conducting airstrikes inside Afghan territory.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence said Taliban fighters carried out“successful retaliatory operations” against Pakistani troops in response to what it described as“repeated violations” of Afghan sovereignty. The ministry's spokesperson, Enayatullah Khwarizmi, said in a statement on X that the cross-border operation concluded around midnight and warned that any further airspace violations by Pakistan would invite“a firm response”.

The clashes reportedly took place at more than six locations along the volatile 2,600-kilometre border, including key sectors in eastern and southern Afghanistan. Taliban officials claimed their forces had captured three Pakistani border posts, while Islamabad countered that its troops had destroyed multiple Afghan positions in“retaliatory fire”.

“We are responding with full force to unprovoked firing from the Afghan side,” a senior Pakistani security official told news agency AFP, adding that three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives were shot down.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi denounced the attacks as“unprovoked aggression”, warning that“no provocation will be tolerated”.
“Firing by Afghan forces on civilian populations is a blatant violation of international law,” Naqvi said on X.“Pakistan's brave forces have given a prompt and effective response-brick for brick.”

Airstrike Allegations and Escalation

The violence follows a string of explosions in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and in the country's southeast on Thursday. The Taliban-run government accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes targeting militant hideouts, a claim Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied.

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