Pakistani security sources said several Afghan Taliban fighters were killed in clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Balochistan’s Gulistan on Friday, claiming forces had foiled what they described as an “attempted Afghan aggression”.
The sources said intermittent exchanges of fire were continuing in the area. There was no official confirmation from either Pakistan or Afghanistan of the fighting or the casualties reported by the Pakistani sources.
The clashes came a day after Afghanistan’s Taliban government warned it would deliver an “appropriate response” to Pakistani air and drone strikes on 10 locations inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan said Thursday’s strikes followed what Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described as a “deliberate and unlawful incursion into Pakistan by drones” a day earlier.
Tarar said the strikes targeted alleged “terrorist hideouts and support infrastructure”, including drone launching and storage sites, and also released footage said to show the attacks.
Afghan officials denied that their government had launched drones against Pakistan. Government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the Pakistani strikes targeted Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces.
The latest fighting comes amid renewed tensions between the former allies over attacks by armed groups in Pakistan.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harbouring fighters who carry out cross-border attacks, while Kabul denies the allegation and says Pakistan’s security problems are an internal matter. The two countries were involved in their most serious fighting in years in February.
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