Pakistan Says Hundreds of Afghan Taliban Fighters Killed in Cross-Border Strikes

Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged heavy cross-border attacks on Saturday, each disputing the other’s claims. Pakistan said its airstrikes killed over 331 Taliban fighters and destroyed military posts and equipment, while Afghanistan claimed its forces struck Pakistani bases, downed a jet, and targeted military installations. Civilian casualties were reported on the Afghan side, which Pakistan denied. The clashes follow earlier confrontations over militants along the porous border, and despite mediation offers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran, no ceasefire has been reached.

Pakistan and Afghanistan continued exchanging airstrikes and ground attacks on Saturday, each side offering conflicting reports on casualties and damage, casting doubt on the accuracy of the other’s statements. According to Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, more than 331 Afghan Taliban fighters have been killed and over 500 wounded in ongoing clashes and airstrikes. He added that Pakistani forces targeted infrastructure and arms stockpiles across 37 locations in Afghanistan, destroyed more than 100 Afghan military posts, captured 22 others, and eliminated 163 tanks and armored vehicles. State-run Pakistani media reported that the air force carried out strikes against key military installations in several eastern Afghan provinces. Authorities also said that hundreds of residents near the Torkham border crossing have been relocated to safer areas, and Afghan refugees waiting at the border have been transported to secure locations within Pakistan.
In response, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry claimed that Afghan forces attacked Pakistani military bases in Miranshah and Spin Wam overnight, destroying military installations and inflicting heavy casualties. Mullah Taj Mohammad Naqshbandi, an Afghan border commissioner at Torkham, stated that Afghan forces “destroyed the Pakistani military regime’s commissariat, military units, and three important security towers.” Afghan officials further alleged that a Pakistani jet was shot down over Jalalabad and that the pilot had been captured, a claim Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry called “totally untrue.”
Afghanistan’s Department of Information and Culture accused Pakistan of striking civilian areas, destroying homes, and killing at least 11 people. Pakistan, however, maintains that its operations target only military installations to minimize civilian casualties.
The renewed clashes follow confrontations along the 2,500-kilometer porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which Afghanistan said were in retaliation for Pakistan’s earlier targeting of Islamist militants. Islamabad blames these militants for deadly cross-border attacks originating from Afghan territory. In retaliation, Pakistan launched airstrikes deep inside Afghanistan, including strikes on military facilities near Kabul. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif accused the Taliban leadership of harboring “all sorts of terrorists” and declared that Pakistan is engaged in “an open war” with Afghanistan.
Regional powers, including the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran, have offered to mediate and called for an immediate ceasefire. Despite these diplomatic efforts, no progress has been reported, and fighting along the border continues.