Fighting broke out again on Tuesday night between Pakistani forces and the Afghan Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, state media reported.
“The Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij opened unprovoked fire in Kurram. The Pakistani army responded with full force and intensity,” the state broadcaster reported. PTV Newsciting security sources in X.
Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
He added that Taliban regime posts were severely damaged and a tank caught fire after being hit, causing Taliban fighters to flee their posts.
In a later post, PTV said: “Another Afghan Taliban post and tank position destroyed in Kurram sector.”
PTV added that a fourth tank position at the Shamsadar post was destroyed. “There are reports of a top Fitna al-Khawarij commander being killed in this major Pakistan Army operation.”
Earlier today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) said that Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch gave a “full briefing” to the resident ambassadors in Islamabad on the recent developments along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
“It underlined Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and its unwavering determination to protect its territorial integrity and national security.”
Afghan Taliban forces launched an unprovoked attack on posts along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border over the weekend. The Inter-Services Public Relations said 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred and more than 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists were killed as Islamabad responded to Kabul’s aggression.
Afghanistan claimed it carried out the attack as a “retaliation” measure, accusing Islamabad of carrying out airstrikes on its territory last week. For its part, Islamabad has not confirmed whether it was behind the airstrikes, but maintains that Kabul should “stop hosting the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan on its soil.”
Islamabad has repeatedly called on Kabul to prohibit terrorist groups from using its territory to attack Pakistan; However, Afghanistan denies the allegations and claims that Afghan soil is not used for attacks against neighboring countries.
US President Donald Trump and China offered to help reduce tensions between Islamabad and Kabul, even as Defense Minister Khawaja Asif called the atmosphere between the two countries “hostile” amid persistent tensions over cross-border terrorism.
speaking in Geographic newsAsif had said a day ago that there were “no links” between Islamabad and Kabul. “Right now we are at a stalemate. You can say there are no active hostilities, but the environment is hostile,” he said, adding: “There are no links, direct or indirect, so far.”
The minister also stated that hostilities between both sides can resume “at any time.” “We cannot rule it out, but there is certainly a pause in hostilities.”
When asked if Islamabad would negotiate with Kabul, Asif replied that if Afghanistan wants negotiations and at the same time threatens Pakistan, “then they should act on their threats and we will negotiate later.”[wards]” “This is something natural. If you are attacked, you have the right instantly to react and attack from wherever the attack originates,” explained the Minister of Defense.
