The Pakistan-Afghanistan border witnessed one of its fiercest exchanges in recent years, as unprovoked Afghan firing drew a powerful and sustained response from the Pakistan Army.
According to security officials, Taliban forces launched coordinated attacks across multiple frontier points — including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, Chitral, and Baramcha in Balochistan — prompting Pakistan to retaliate with air power, heavy artillery, and drones.
Pak army responds with full force
Security sources said Pakistani forces targeted and destroyed several Afghan military positions, including the Durand Meela and Turkmenzai camps, as well as the Jandosar post. The strategic Turkmenzai top was reported “completely eliminated,” and Kharchar Fort — described by officials as a base for extremist groups — was “reduced to rubble.”
The operation, they added, killed multiple Afghan soldiers and dispersed foreign militant networks operating near the border. Taliban fighters, according to intelligence reports, fled their posts leaving behind bodies, destroyed positions, and abandoned equipment.
PTV, quoting military sources, confirmed that Pakistan used both aerial assets and drone strikes to target Islamic State and foreign militant hideouts inside Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s claims, Pakistani rebuttal
Afghanistan’s Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said the Afghan army’s cross-border strikes were “retaliatory,” claiming they were aimed at Pakistan’s repeated “violations of Afghan territory.” However, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi called the firing on civilians “a blatant violation of international law,” emphasizing that Pakistan’s response demonstrated its resolve to counter “any act of provocation.”
Naqvi said Afghan forces were being “manipulated by external influences,” hinting at India’s alleged role in destabilizing Pakistan’s western border.
Regional concern over escalation
Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have expressed alarm over the escalating conflict. In a statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged both nations to “exercise dialogue and diplomacy” to safeguard regional peace. Saudi Arabia echoed the concern, calling on Islamabad and Kabul to show restraint and avoid further bloodshed. Riyadh’s stance follows its recent Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Pakistan, which treats aggression against either country as an attack on both.
Diplomatic strain deepens
Pakistan’s Foreign Office also condemned remarks by Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who during a visit to India blamed Pakistan for recent terror incidents inside Afghanistan. Islamabad termed the statement “misleading and irresponsible,” asserting that “shifting blame onto Pakistan does not absolve Afghan authorities of their duty to prevent terrorism from their soil.”
Muttaqi’s comments came days after an explosion in Kabul, which Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed but dismissed as minor. “There is no need for concern; all is well,” he wrote on X.
A volatile frontier
With the Taliban government facing pressure from both internal factions and external actors, and Pakistan ramping up its counter-terror operations, the frontier has once again become a flashpoint — a narrow strip of rugged land holding the weight of two uneasy nations and a restless region.
