Pakistan has said that 36 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed in ongoing clashes along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, as both sides accuse each other of initiating the latest round of fighting.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistani forces responded to what he described as “unprovoked firing” by the Afghan Taliban at multiple points along the frontier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He confirmed that two Pakistani security personnel were killed and others injured in the exchanges.
According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Information, security forces mounted what it called an “immediate and effective” response in areas including Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur. Officials claimed that several Afghan Taliban checkpoints were destroyed and that Taliban forces suffered heavy casualties.
Military sources in Pakistan also said additional Afghan posts were targeted in the Chitral and Bajaur sectors. The government maintains that no Pakistani posts have been captured and no personnel taken prisoner.
In contrast, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Taliban forces had launched operations against Pakistani security positions, claiming that several Pakistani posts were destroyed or seized and that Pakistani troops were killed. Kabul has not provided independently verifiable casualty figures.
Local residents in border regions, including areas near Lower Kurram and Sadda, told media outlets that explosions and heavy gunfire had been heard for up to two hours, though there were no confirmed reports of shells striking populated areas in the latest exchanges.
The clashes follow heightened tensions after recent Pakistani strikes inside Afghanistan targeting what Islamabad described as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allied militant positions. Pakistani officials previously claimed dozens of militants were killed in those operations, while Afghan authorities said civilians, including women and children, were among the casualties.