Pakistan Says It Repelled Taliban Attack Along Afghan Border

Pakistan says its security forces have thwarted an attempted attack by Afghan Taliban fighters in the Gulistan sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killing several Taliban members in retaliatory action.

Pakistani security sources said on Friday that the attempted incursion was met by security forces, with intermittent exchanges of fire continuing in the border area. The sources did not provide details about the precise nature of the planned attack or the number of Taliban fighters killed.

The latest incident comes amid renewed tensions between the two neighbours after a period of relative calm. Pakistan has accused the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of allowing militant groups to operate from Afghan territory and carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul has repeatedly rejected the allegations and maintains that militancy inside Pakistan is an internal matter for Islamabad.

The reported fighting follows Pakistani airstrikes on Thursday against 10 locations in Afghanistan. Islamabad said the sites were being used to launch and store drones. Pakistan had also carried out strikes earlier in the week, claiming to have killed 28 militants in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. Afghan officials, however, said some civilians were killed in the earlier strikes.

Pakistan has said its recent military actions were responses to attacks and attempted incursions from across the border. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad did not seek escalation but would respond to what it described as hostile actions against Pakistani territory.

The renewed clashes are adding pressure to efforts by China, Türkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to mediate between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The two sides have experienced repeated confrontations since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with cross-border militancy remaining one of the central disputes.

The Afghan Taliban had not immediately commented on Pakistan’s latest allegation that its fighters attempted to enter Pakistani territory and launch an attack. Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces remained on high alert along the border as intermittent firing continued, according to the security sources.