Pakistan Reports 13 Taliban Casualties in Border Clash, Rejects Kabul’s Claims

Pakistan announced on Friday that an overnight border clash resulted in the deaths of at least 13 Afghan Taliban fighters, while firmly rejecting Kabul’s assertion that its forces had destroyed a Pakistani military post without incurring any casualties.

The confrontation near Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak district and Pakistan’s Gulistan sector marks the latest escalation after a period of relative calm. This incident follows Islamabad’s airstrikes in Afghanistan earlier this week, which were triggered by a deadly militant attack in northwestern Pakistan and subsequent drone incursions from across the border.

Afghanistan’s defense ministry claimed that its forces destroyed a Pakistani military post near Spin Boldak after Pakistani troops opened fire toward Afghan territory. The ministry also stated that Afghan forces suffered no casualties or damage in the exchange.

Pakistan’s information ministry responded on social media platform X, describing the Afghan claim as “fake and fabricated.”

According to Pakistan’s official account, an attempted Afghan aggression in the Gulistan sector was thwarted on the night of September 24-25. During the operation and subsequent heavy retaliation against opposing Taliban posts, at least 13 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed and several others injured.

Independent verification of the casualty figures or damage claims from either side has not been possible.

Pakistani security sources had earlier informed Reuters that forces successfully prevented an attempt by Afghan Taliban fighters to enter Pakistani territory in the Gulistan sector, resulting in the deaths of several Taliban members.

The sources indicated that intermittent firing was continuing at the time, with Pakistani forces remaining on alert along the border area.

This clash occurs amid a sharp rise in cross-border hostilities this week.

Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan on Monday, reporting the death of 28 militants. This action came days after an attack on a police compound in Kohat that killed 23 people, including 17 police personnel and six civilians. Eight attackers were also killed in the ensuing security operation.

Afghan Taliban officials stated that Monday’s airstrikes killed three civilians, a toll confirmed by the United Nations.

Pakistan’s air force struck 10 more locations in Afghanistan on Thursday after Islamabad reported drone incursions from Afghanistan the previous day. Islamabad asserted that these sites were used for launching and storing drones, while the Afghan Taliban denied carrying out such attacks.

Relations between the former allies have deteriorated sharply over the past year, with repeated cross-border clashes and airstrikes despite efforts by regional powers to mediate.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring militant groups that stage attacks across the border. Kabul denies the charge, asserting that militancy is Pakistan’s internal problem.

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