Cross-border warfare between Pakistan and Afghanistan intensified on Friday as military forces from both countries conducted fresh attacks against each other, with each nation asserting they eliminated numerous enemy combatants in what represents the most severe hostilities between these neighboring countries to date.
International pleas for de-escalation have gone unheeded as the violence, now stretching into its ninth consecutive day, shows no signs of diminishing in what Pakistani officials have characterized as an “open war.”
Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled Defense Ministry reported that their military units “destroyed numerous Pakistani military posts” across border areas in Nangarhar, Kandahar, Kunar, Paktia, and Khost provinces, resulting in the deaths of multiple Pakistani soldiers.
Pakistani government media outlets reported their nation’s aerial and ground forces delivered devastating blows in recent operations against Afghan military targets and members of the Pakistani Taliban, a militant organization called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.
Pakistani authorities stated the combat remains active and their armed forces “inflicted heavy losses” on Afghanistan, though they provided no additional specifics.
Pakistan has consistently blamed Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership in Kabul for providing sanctuary to the TTP, an allegation Afghan officials reject. Following the Afghan Taliban’s return to control in Afghanistan during August 2021, TTP attacks inside Pakistan have increased significantly.
Pakistani officials say their military campaign, which began last week, will persist until Afghanistan implements concrete measures to control the TTP and other militant groups operating within Afghan borders.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has called for an immediate end to hostilities, warning the fighting is exacerbating Afghanistan’s already critical humanitarian crisis. On Friday, the UN mission, known as UNAMA, posted on social media platform X that 56 civilians have died inside Afghanistan so far.
Multiple individuals sustained injuries Friday after Afghan mortar rounds struck a village in Mohmand, located in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local official Mohammad Asif.
Death toll reports have differed dramatically between the two sides. Earlier this week, Afghanistan claimed their forces eliminated 150 Pakistani soldiers since combat began, while losing 28 Afghan troops.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X that Pakistani military forces have killed 527 Afghan soldiers.
The frontier area, where extremist groups including al-Qaida and the Islamic State maintain operations, remains largely off-limits to journalists, and The Associated Press cannot independently confirm the competing casualty figures.
Whether diplomatic initiatives by other Muslim countries will bring Kabul and Pakistani leadership to peace talks in the near future remains uncertain.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed mediating a fresh ceasefire during a phone conversation with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The following day, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim held discussions with Afghanistan’s Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, as confirmed by Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
The current hostilities brought an end to a previous ceasefire negotiated by Qatar and Turkey in October, when the two countries had previously approached the brink of war. That agreement, finalized in Qatar, led to six days of discussions in Istanbul, producing a deal to maintain the truce and conduct additional negotiations in November.
