Taliban unleash 'extensive' offensive on Pakistan as deadly border strikes erupt

Afghanistan and Pakistan exchanged important cross-border occurrence Thursday successful an escalation of hostilities on their shared border, according to aggregate reports.

The clashes came aft the Taliban said it launched retaliatory strikes connected Pakistani subject positions, portion Islamabad said it was responding to unprovoked occurrence successful the area.

Reuters reported that some forces clashed for much than 2 hours on their astir 2,600-kilometer (1,615-mile) border, threatening a ceasefire that had been agreed to successful 2025 pursuing fighting.

Thursday's flare-up came aft Pakistani forces carried retired airstrikes wrong Afghanistan earlier this week, with Taliban officials saying the strikes killed astatine slightest 18 people, Reuters reported Feb. 24.

Afghan Taliban fighters patrol adjacent the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderline successful Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, pursuing exchanges of occurrence betwixt Pakistani and Afghan forces. (REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo)

Pakistan meantime said it targeted militant hideouts and rejected claims that civilians were targeted.

Taliban officials went connected to picture an "extensive" subject cognition against Pakistani service positions successful effect to the strikes.

"In effect to repeated provocations, extended preemptive operations person been launched against Pakistani subject positions on the Durand Line," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid wrote connected X.

 In a abstracted statement, helium said "specialized laser units" were operating astatine night.

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Pakistan, Afghan forces clash aft days of hostilities. (Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense/Handout via REUTERS )

Taliban subject spokesperson Mawlawi Wahidullah Mohammadi besides said successful a video shared with Reuters that the "retaliatory operation" began successful the evening connected Thursday.

Mujahid said "numerous" Pakistani soldiers had been killed and immoderate were besides captured. Reuters said it could not independently verify those claims.

In different station connected X, Mujahid said, "The cowardly Pakistani service has bombed immoderate places successful Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia. Praise beryllium to God, nary 1 was harmed," referring to the earlier strikes.

Pakistan has since rejected the Taliban’s account. 

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said connected X that Afghanistan's Taliban's "unprovoked enactment on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border" was fixed an "immediate and effectual response."

The ministry said Taliban forces had "miscalculated and opened unprovoked occurrence connected aggregate locations" on the borderline successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The station said that the occurrence was being met with an "immediate and effectual effect by Pakistan’s information forces."

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Members of Taliban beryllium connected a subject conveyance during a Taliban subject parade successful Kabul, Afghanistan. (Reuters/Ali Khara)

"Early reports corroborate dense casualties connected the Afghan broadside with aggregate posts and instrumentality destroyed," the ministry said. 

"Pakistan volition instrumentality each indispensable measures to guarantee its territorial integrity and the information and information of its citizens."

Pakistani information sources besides told Reuters that 22 Taliban unit had been killed, and respective quadcopters were changeable down.

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The warring follows Pakistan’s accusations that the Taliban is sheltering TTP militants down a surge successful unit and termination attacks. 

The Afghan Taliban denies the claim. A time earlier February's strikes, Pakistani officials said they had "irrefutable evidence" that militants were launching attacks from Afghan soil, Reuters reported.

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