Fresh clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan erupted along their tense border on Wednesday, leaving dozens of civilians and military dead and wounded and breaking a fragile truce after weekend fighting.
According to regional media, the Taliban regime reported that more than a dozen Afghan civilians were killed and a hundred wounded when Pakistani forces launched attacks early Wednesday in the border district of Spin Boldak. Islamabad said four of its civilians were wounded in attacks by ‘Taliban forces’ in Pakistan’s Chaman district, just across the border with Spin Boldak.
Pakistan‘s military called Kabul’s accusations that Islamabad had initiated the attack in Spin Boldak, an Afghan town near the border, “blatant and outrageous lies”. Meanwhile, another clash in Pakistan’s Orakzai district killed six Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and wounded six others, security sources said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan accuse each other of hostilities
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have flared since Islamabad bombed the outskirts of Kabul five days ago in what it described as an operation against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring TTP militants on its territory, something the government in Kabul strongly denies.
The Taliban government in Kabul launched last weekend an offensive in several areas of southern Afghanistan in retaliation, killing 58 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Islamabad to vow a “forceful response”. The weekend clashes were the most serious between the two countries since the Taliban took power in 2021, despite frequent clashes between their security forces along the 2,600 kilometres of their disputed border.
The recent escalation between the former allies came in the wake of Islamabad’s demand that the Taliban government act against militants attacking Pakistan from suspected safe havens in Afghanistan. The Taliban, on the other hand, accuse the Pakistani military of plotting against Afghanistan by spreading disinformation, fomenting border tensions and harbouring Daesh (ISIS)-linked terrorists to destabilise their country and undermine their sovereignty.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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