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Afghanistan says 58 Pakistani troops have been killed as border tensions erupt following airstrikes
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Afghanistan says 58 Pakistani troops have been killed as border tensions erupt following airstrikes

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Pakistan closed its border crossings with Afghanistan on Sunday, Pakistani officials said, after an overnight firefight between the two countries’ forces, with Kabul claiming to have killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.
Afghan forces opened fire on Pakistani border posts late on Saturday, with the country’s defense ministry saying it was in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan earlier this week. Pakistan said it responded with gun and artillery fire.
Afghanistan said it had killed 58 Pakistani soldiers, but gave no details on how it learned about the casualty figures. It was also said that twenty Afghan troops were killed or wounded.
There was no immediate response from Pakistan. Pakistani security officials said they had inflicted casualties on Afghan forces but did not provide a figure.

The accounts could not be independently verified.

A Pakistani soldier stands guard at the Chaman border crossing in 2017. Source: Anadolu, Getty / Naveed Khan

Both countries claimed to have destroyed border posts on the other side. Pakistani security officials shared video footage that they said showed Afghan posts being hit.

The gun battle was largely over by Sunday morning, Pakistani security officials said. But in Pakistan’s Kurram area, isolated gunfire continued, according to local officials and residents.
The Afghan Defense Ministry had earlier said their operation ended at midnight local time.
Kabul said on Sunday it had halted the attacks at the request of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The two Gulf Arab states had released statements of concern over the clashes.

“There is no threat of any kind in any part of Afghan territory,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Sunday.

“The Islamic Emirate and the people of Afghanistan will defend their country and remain resolute and committed in this defense.”
Mujahid said fighting was taking place in some areas.

Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of harboring militants attacking Pakistan, an accusation Kabul denies.

Border closures

Pakistan’s two main border crossings with Afghanistan, at Torkham and Chaman, were closed on Sunday, local officials said.
At least three minor intersections, at Kharlachi, Angoor Adda and Ghulam Khan, were also closed, they added.

There was no immediate comment from Kabul on the border closure. Landlocked Afghanistan has a 2,600 km long border with Pakistan.

The Pakistani airstrikes, not officially recognized by Islamabad, targeted the leader of the militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Kabul on Thursday, a Pakistani security official said.
It is unclear whether he survived.
The TTP has been fighting to overthrow Islamabad’s government and replace it with a strictly Islamic-ruled system. Mujahid denied on Sunday that TTP fighters were allowed to operate from Afghan territory.

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