NN ONLINE:
Afghan security forces launched attacks on Pakistani border posts late Saturday in what the Taliban government described as retaliation for repeated violations of its territory and airspace, marking an escalation in tensions between the two neighbours. Earlier this week, Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes on Kabul and a market in eastern Afghanistan, though Islamabad has not claimed responsibility.
In a statement issued early Sunday, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense said its forces had carried out “retaliatory and successful operations” along the border. “If the opposing side again violates Afghanistan’s territorial integrity, our armed forces are fully prepared to defend the nation’s borders and will deliver a strong response,” the ministry warned.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has long accused Afghanistan of sheltering militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad blames for deadly attacks inside the country. The Taliban administration denies the allegation, saying Afghan soil is not used against any other nation.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the cross-border gunfire, warning that Afghanistan would receive a “befitting reply like India” — a reference to an earlier crisis this year that brought the two nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of conflict.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the latest escalation and its potential repercussions for regional security, urging both sides to pursue “dialogue, diplomacy, and restraint.”
According to a senior Pakistani security official, Afghan forces opened fire in multiple northwestern border districts, including Chitral, Bajaur, Mohmand, Angoor Adda, and Kurram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistani troops responded with heavy artillery near Tirah in Khyber district and across the frontier into Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, the official added. Another security official said a mortar shell fired from the Afghan side struck Tiri village in Kurram district, killing one person and injuring another.
The two countries share a 2,611-kilometre border known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has never formally recognized.
