At least a dozen soldiers died in overnight cross border fighting between Talban and Pakistani forces Saturday into Sunday. It’s the latest spasm of violence to erupt between the two sides as tensions have escalated in recent months. Photo by Basit Gilani EPA-EFE
Oct. 12 (UPI) — Dozens of soldiers are dead following clashes along the Pakistani-Afghan border Saturday night into Sunday morning.
An attack by the Afghan Taliban on Pakistani military installations prompted the heavy exchange of military fire after Afghan troops opened fire along the northwest border and took control of several of the military posts, officials said.
The attacks followed alleged Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory, which included targets in Kabul, the capital earlier in the week.
Pakistan responded Sunday with gunfire and ground raids on Taliban posts at the border.
The Pakistani military said 23 soldiers were killed and at least 29 more wounded in the fighting. Officials said 200 Taliban-backed Afghan terrorists were killed in retaliatory strikes, and that Pakistani forces had dismantled Afghan terrorist training camps.
A spokesperson for Afghanistan‘s Taliban government said Sunday that a “significant amount” of Pakistani weapons had been recovered by Taliban forces in the clash.
The latest spasm of deadly violence marks the sharpest uptick in tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan in months, and surface amid Islamabad’s allegations that Afghanistan is harboring armed militants in Pakistan.