Afghanistan and Pakistan report dozens of deaths in fighting

Dangerous escalation

Afghanistan and Pakistan report dozens of deaths in fighting

Pakistan’s army and the Afghan Taliban are attacking each other in the border region. The fighting follows airstrikes in the Afghan capital Kabul this week. Now there should be deaths.

Tensions between Afghanistan and the neighboring nuclear power Pakistan are escalating: According to Afghan information, dozens of soldiers were killed in fighting on the border. Kabul and Islamabad blame each other for the confrontation. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran called on both states to exercise restraint.

The spokesman for the Islamist Taliban ruling in Kabul, Sabihullah Mujahid, reported that 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed. In addition, according to him, 20 border control posts in the neighboring country were temporarily taken over. He spoke of “retaliatory actions” by Afghanistan. He also told journalists that nine Afghan soldiers had also died. At Qatar’s request, Afghanistan stopped fighting, but not Pakistan.

Pakistani media, citing security circles, reported that there were numerous victims on the Afghan side. In addition, Pakistani soldiers took control of 19 border checkpoints. The Pakistani army fired artillery at the other side, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported. The information provided by both sides could not be independently verified.

The Afghan Defense Ministry had previously said the attacks were in response to “repeated attacks on Afghanistan’s sovereignty by the Pakistani military.” According to reports, the Afghan capital Kabul was the target of air strikes late on Thursday evening.

Pakistan has neither officially confirmed nor denied reports of involvement. Pakistani intelligence circles told the German Press Agency that the attacks were aimed at Noor Wali Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP).

Pakistan has been grappling with increasing violence from the TTP for a while and has accused the neighboring country’s Taliban of sheltering fighters on its soil.

Those in power in Kabul reject the allegations. For their part, they accused the Pakistani side of being behind recent attacks by the IS affiliate Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK) in Afghanistan. This operates from Pakistan with the support of the local military. Islamabad rejects this.

The neighboring countries share a border that is around 2,400 kilometers long and was created in 1893 between what was then British India and the Emirate of Afghanistan. The course of the de facto border known as the “Durand Line” is disputed between the countries.