Afghan Taliban says Pakistani troops killed in 'retaliatory' border attacks

A military patrol in Shorabak district near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on 12 October

The Taliban government has confirmed that it attacked Pakistani troops in multiple mountainous locations on the northern border.

A Taliban spokesman said 58 Pakistani military personnel had been killed in what it called "an act of retaliation". It claimed Pakistan had violated Afghan airspace and bombed a market inside its border on Thursday.

Pakistan has disputed that figure, saying 23 of its armed forces' members had died and claiming that "200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists have been neutralized".

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the Afghan attacks were "unprovoked" and civilians were fired at, warning that his country's forces would respond "with a stone for every brick".

Pakistan has closed border crossings with Afghanistan

Islamabad has accused Kabul of harbouring terrorists who target Pakistan on its soil, a claim the Taliban government rejected.

Both the Afghan and Pakistani sides are said to have used small arms and artillery in the Kunar-Kurram region, the BBC understands.

At a press conference on Sunday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in addition to the 58 Pakistani military deaths, around 30 others had been wounded.

He added that nine Taliban fighters had died and between 16 and 18 people had been injured.

Pakistan Armed Forces said 29 of its soldiers had been injured, and the number of wounded Taliban and "affiliated" fighters was in the hundreds.

Afghanistan’s foreign minister said in a press conference in New Delhi that "we have no problems" with Pakistan's people and its leadership but added "there are some groups in Pakistan that are trying to spoil the situation. Afghanistan has a right to keep its territory and its borders safe, and so it has retaliated to the violation."

Pakistan's interior minister said he "strongly condemns" the Taliban's attacks: "The firing by Afghan forces on civilian populations is a blatant violation of international laws.

"Afghanistan is playing a game of fire and blood," he said in a post on X.

The two main crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan - Torkham in the north and Chaman in the south - have been closed, leaving hundreds of trucks carrying goods stranded on both sides.

A Pakistani military spokesman said they would take necessary measures to safeguard Pakistani lives and properties.

Pakistan's military has not officially commented, but a security source speaking to the BBC claimed that firing took place at several locations along the Pakistani-Afghan border, including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, Chitral and Baramcha.

A police official stationed near the Zero Point in Kurram district told the BBC that heavy weapons fire began from the Afghan side around 22:00 local time (17:00 GMT).

He said they had received reports of intense gunfire from multiple locations along the border.

Last week, Afghanistan's Taliban government accused Pakistan of violating Kabul's "sovereign territory", as two loud blasts were heard in the city late on Thursday.

Pakistan bombed a civilian market in the border province of Paktika, in Afghanistan's south-east, the Taliban Defence Ministry said on Friday. Locals there told the BBC's Afghan service that a number of shops had been destroyed.

A top Pakistani general alleged Afghanistan was being used as a "base of operation for terrorism against Pakistan".

Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP, to operate from their land and fight against the Islamabad government in a bid to enforce a strict Islamic-led system of governance.

The Afghan Taliban government has always denied this.

The latest escalation coincided with an historic week-long trip to India made by Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, his first since the Taliban's return to power.

In a diplomatic thaw, New Delhi said that it would reopen the embassy in Kabul, which was shut four years ago.

"Afghanistan will also be given a befitting reply like India, so that it will not dare to look at Pakistan with a malicious eye," Naqvi warned.

In a statement, Saudi Arabia, which signed a mutual defence pact with Pakistan last month, called for self-restraint and avoidance of escalation between Islamabad and Kabul.

Qatar also expressed concern over the Pakistan-Afghanistan border tensions, calling on both sides to "prioritise dialogue, diplomacy, and restraint".