Pakistan Claims 67 Afghan Security Personnel Killed as Border Clashes Enter Fifth Day

Kathmandu. Pakistan claimed that 67 Afghan security personnel were killed as the ongoing cross-border conflict with Afghanistan entered its fifth day. Islamabad confirmed that one Pakistani soldier also lost his life amid intense clashes that began Tuesday morning in the southwestern and northwestern border regions.

Pakistan's Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, stated that 'many attacks on the Afghan border were successfully thwarted.' According to him, the Afghan ground forces launched land attacks at 16 locations in Saifullah, Nushki, and Chaman districts of Balochistan province. In response, the Pakistani military claimed to have killed 27 Afghan soldiers, which he shared via the social media platform X.

He further stated that Afghan forces attacked 25 locations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border area. Pakistan claimed that 40 members of the Afghan security forces were killed in the clashes in those areas, bringing the total number of Afghan security personnel killed on both fronts to 67, according to Islamabad.

There has been no immediate official reaction from Kabul regarding these claims. However, both countries have been claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on each other since last Thursday. Afghanistan had stated that the attacks were in retaliation for a Pakistani airstrike that occurred the previous Sunday. Since then, Pakistan has been continuously conducting military operations in the border areas. On Monday, Tarar claimed that 435 Afghan security personnel were killed and 31 locations were brought under control.

Meanwhile, the Afghan side has also been claiming that its operations have caused significant damage to the Pakistani military. However, these claims have not been independently verified.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari defended the ongoing military action inside Afghanistan on Monday, stating that Islamabad only took action against militants after exhausting all diplomatic options. He urged Kabul to disarm the groups responsible for attacks in Pakistan.

Pakistan has described the current situation as an 'open war' with Afghanistan. The border region is considered an area where the activities of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have increased. Islamabad alleges that violence inside Pakistan has escalated in recent months, holding the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) responsible. Pakistan has consistently accused the TTP of operating from Afghan soil and being given safe haven by the Afghan Taliban government, which Kabul denies.

The current border conflict has rendered the ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey last October ineffective. Tensions flared up again between the two sides after talks held in Istanbul failed to establish a permanent agreement. Pakistani officials have made it clear that military operations will continue until the Afghan Taliban government takes proven and effective action against the TTP and other militant groups.