KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least 16 Taliban militants were killed and 27 others wounded in a recent border skirmish with Pakistani security forces, a Pakistani security official said.
As reported by the Pakistani news outlet The Express Tribune on Tuesday, September 10, two military vehicles belonging to Taliban militants were also destroyed during the clash.
The clash started in the border region between Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province and Pakistan’s Kurram district on Saturday, September 7.
According to the report, the clash began when Taliban militants initiated “unprovoked aggression” along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, prompting a strong response from the Pakistani side.
The clash continued until the evening of September 8 and 9, with the Pakistani army responding with retaliatory fire, inflicting heavy losses on the Taliban side, according to the Pakistani official.
The Pakistani security official told the news outlet that any future unprovoked aggression along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border would be met with a decisive response.
Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan three years ago, armed clashes between Taliban and Pakistani border forces, often resulting in casualties, have frequently occurred.
Earlier in August, a similar clash erupted between Pakistani security forces and Taliban militants near the Torkham border. The exchange of light and heavy weapons resulted in the deaths of three civilians on the Afghanistan side.
In September of last year, an armed clash between the Taliban and Pakistani border forces near the Torkham border resulted in the deaths of at least eight people, including members of both sides and left 20 others wounded.
Border hostilities have also caused the temporary closure of Torkham, the primary transit point for travelers and goods between the two neighboring countries.
The relationship between Pakistan and the ruling regime in Afghanistan has deteriorated in recent years, mainly due to the TTP issue. The militant group, which shares a similar ideology with the Afghan Taliban, has escalated its conflict with the Pakistani government in recent years.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring TTP leaders and fighters in Afghanistan, providing them with training and modern weapons to conduct cross-border attacks.
However, the Taliban insists they do not support TTP operations in Pakistan from within Afghanistan and have no involvement in recent security incidents in Pakistan. The Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, has said that they are not responsible for Pakistan’s internal security issues.
