Afghanistan says it launches attacks against Pakistan

Afghan military source tells Al Jazeera 13 border outposts were captured as Pakistan denies that any posts were seized.

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities say they have launched attacks against Pakistan’s military positions along their border in response to the Pakistani air strikes last week, as Pakistan said its forces had retaliated.

The media office of Afghanistan’s military corps in the east said in a statement that “heavy clashes” began late on Thursday “in response to the recent air strikes carried out by Pakistani forces in Nangarhar and Paktia” provinces.

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“In response ‌to repeated provocations and violations by Pakistani military circles, large-scale offensive operations have been launched ⁠against Pakistani military ⁠positions and installations along the Durand Line,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah ⁠Mujahid wrote in a post on X.

Relations between the neighbours have plunged in recent months with land crossings along the 2,611km-long (1,622-mile-long) border known as the Durand Line largely shut since deadly fighting in October killed more than 70 people on both sides.

An Afghan military source told Al Jazeera that 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed and that 13 outposts were captured in Thursday’s attacks, which were carried out in retaliation for Pakistani strikes along the border on Sunday.

Pakistan had said that it killed at least 70 fighters, with Afghanistan rejecting the claim, saying civilians had been killed, including women and children.

Pakistan responds

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on X later on Thursday that Pakistani ⁠troops had delivered ⁠an “immediate and ⁠effective response” to Taliban fire across ⁠several sectors ⁠in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Taliban regime forces are being delivered punishment in Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors. Early reports confirm heavy casualties on Afghan side with multiple posts and equipment destroyed,” the ministry said.

Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesperson for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said on X that no Pakistani outposts been “captured or damaged” and that Pakistani forces had “inflicted heavy losses across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in response to unprovoked Taliban aggression”.

He did not comment on the Afghan claim that 10 soldiers were killed.

Separately, a Pakistani security source told Al Jazeera that a number of Afghan soldiers fled from three locations targeted by Pakistani fire in retaliation for Afghan fire originating from those locations.

Rising violence

Security issues lie at the heart of recent border tensions, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harbouring armed groups led by the Pakistan Taliban, known by its acronym TTP, on its soil.

The TTP emerged in 2007 in Pakistan’s tribal districts and is distinct from the Taliban in Afghanistan but shares deep ideological, social and linguistic ties with the group.

Pearl Pandya, South Asia Senior Analyst at the US-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, an independent, impartial conflict monitor, told Al Jazeera that the “porous border” with Afghanistan provides fighters with a safe haven to retreat to in the face of military pressure.

“The Afghan Taliban, however, appear unwilling to seriously crack down on the TTP, partly due to prior affinities between the two groups but also out of fear of TTP militants defecting to its main rival, the Islamic State Khorasan Province,” she added.

Pandya said that 2025 had been one of the most violent years in over a decade, with ACLED recording over 1,000 violent incidents involving the TTP across Pakistan. Trends for 2026 appeared to be “on a par” or “slightly higher” than the same period last year.

“In the absence of a serious crackdown on the TTP by Afghanistan, further escalation seems inevitable,” said Pandya.

The Afghan Taliban denies Pakistan’s charges that it is sheltering the group.