Afghanistan Reports Fifty People Dead in Clashes with Pakistan

(MENAFN) Afghan authorities announced Saturday that more than 50 civilians have died amid escalating hostilities with Pakistan along the shared border.

Government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat stated that since Thursday, "52 civilians, majority of whom are women and children, have been killed, 66 have been injured, eight houses have been completely destroyed."

According to official statements posted on the US-based social media platform X, the reported casualties occurred across multiple provinces, including Paktika Province, Khost Province, Kunar Province, Nangarhar Province, and Kandahar Province.

There was no immediate comment from Islamabad addressing the allegations.

Hostilities between the neighboring states escalated late Thursday after Kabul initiated what it described as “retaliatory operations” near the frontier, following Pakistani airstrikes carried out the previous Sunday. In response, Pakistan launched extensive artillery fire and additional air raids targeting several areas inside Afghanistan.

Figures released by Kabul indicate that the overall death toll on both sides of the border has risen to 78. Afghan officials reported that 13 of their soldiers were killed in the clashes, in addition to the 52 civilian fatalities. On the Pakistani side, authorities acknowledged the deaths of 12 soldiers and one civilian, while confirming that one soldier remains unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar claimed Saturday that 352 Afghan Taliban operatives and suspected militants had been killed and 535 wounded in airstrikes and cross-border fighting since Thursday.

Kabul, however, countered with its own figures, asserting that 56 Pakistani troops were killed during the confrontations.

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