KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Officials from the Taliban say their forces have captured a Pakistani border post in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar amid escalating clashes between the two sides.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense claimed that its fighters seized the post during an attack along the border areas of the two provinces. According to the statement, 14 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 11 others were wounded. The Taliban also said a Pakistani armored vehicle and an “International” military truck were destroyed.
Pakistan’s authorities have rejected the Taliban’s claims. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the allegations were false, writing in a post on X that “another false claim by the Afghan Taliban regime has been exposed” by the government’s fact-checking platform, FactCheckerMoIB.
Tarar said the Taliban’s claims “have no basis or foundation,” adding that the damages and losses suffered by the Afghan Taliban and what he described as their extension Fitna Al Khawarij are regularly documented by Pakistan’s Ministry of Information with “irrefutable pictorial and video evidence.”
Taliban officials also reported that their forces launched attacks on several Pakistani border posts in Nangarhar, particularly near the Dur Baba district. Details about casualties or damage from those attacks have not been released.
The fighting comes after weeks of escalating tensions between the Taliban administration and Pakistan. The Taliban say their recent attacks were carried out in response to Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory on Thursday.
According to Taliban officials, Pakistani forces have repeatedly targeted border regions of Afghanistan with rocket and artillery attacks over the past two weeks. The continued clashes have damaged civilian infrastructure and forced thousands of families living in border areas to flee their homes.
Local Taliban authorities in Kunar also said that Pakistani forces targeted a school in Dangam district on Saturday morning. Zia-ur-Rahman Spin Ghar, head of information for the Taliban’s Department of Information and Culture in Kunar, said the “Central High School” in the district was struck by what he described as a “DC artillery shell.”
According to him, the attack wounded the school’s guard and caused significant damage to the school building. The incident is the latest reported strike on civilian infrastructure in the border region, where residents say homes and public facilities have also been damaged during the ongoing hostilities.
Diplomatic efforts to ease tensions have also begun to emerge. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a telephone call with the Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi that Beijing is ready to play a constructive role in promoting understanding and trust between the Taliban and Pakistan.
According to a statement from the Taliban’s foreign ministry, Wang Yi said military action is not a solution to the current crisis and warned that such steps would only escalate tensions further.
Muttaqi said during the call that the Taliban have the legitimate right to defend their people and territorial integrity against Pakistan but also support a political solution rather than further escalation. He accused Pakistan’s bombardments and missile attacks of primarily affecting civilians, including women and children, and damaging civilian facilities, citing recent strikes in Kabul and Kandahar as examples.
The cross-border violence marks one of the most serious escalations between Pakistan and the Taliban authorities since the group returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the country’s recent airstrikes targeted what he described as “terrorist infrastructure” inside Afghanistan.
In a post on X on Friday, Tarar said that militants and their support infrastructure, including bases and logistical camps, were targeted in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar.
He denied that civilians were targeted in the strikes. However, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that at least four civilians were killed and 14 others, including women and children, were wounded in strikes in Kabul.
Pakistan also carried out fresh airstrikes across four Afghan provinces — Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia and Paktika — on Thursday night. Taliban officials confirmed the civilian casualties in Kabul but have not released casualty figures from other provinces.
According to United Nations data, Pakistani attacks during the recent escalation have killed at least 75 civilians and wounded 193 others in Afghanistan, while the continued fighting has displaced thousands of families in border areas.
