Pakistan sealed its border with Afghanistan amid heavy firing between the two countries overnight, Pakistani officials said on Sunday.
Torkham crossing in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chaman in the southwestern province of Balochistan are now closed, security officials said.
Pakistani media reports Afghan border posts attacked with jets, tanks
Pakistan’s local media said its security forces have captured at least 19 Afghan border posts using heavy artillery, tanks, fighter jets and drones.
Both Pakistani officials and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have claimed heavy losses to the opposition, although the fighting now appears to have largely ended.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement issued by his ministry, “The firing by Afghan forces on the civilian population is a gross violation of international law.”
“By responding swiftly and effectively, Pakistan’s brave forces have proved that any provocation will not be tolerated,” he said.
Naqvi, referring to the brief conflict with India this May, also warned that Afghanistan was “playing a game of fire and blood” and “like India, it will be given a befitting reply so that it does not dare to look at Pakistan with an evil eye.” Both Islamabad and New Delhi claimed victory in the conflict.
Afghanistan says it killed about 60 Pakistani soldiers
Zabiullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Taliban government, said its forces had captured 25 Pakistani army posts in overnight clashes.
He claimed that 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 30 others were injured. Islamabad did not immediately comment on those numbers.
“The situation along all official borders and actual lines of Afghanistan is completely under control, and illegal activities have been stopped to a great extent,” Mujahid told a news conference in Kabul.
“If the opposing side again violates the territorial integrity of Afghanistan, our armed forces are fully prepared to protect the country’s borders and will respond strongly,” the ministry said.
Why are Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting?
Afghan troops fired on Pakistani positions late Saturday, with the Taliban government confirming it was in retaliation for Pakistani air strikes in Afghanistan earlier in the week.
The fighting began after Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for a series of attacks that left at least 20 Pakistani security officials and three civilians dead. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring and aiding TTP members.
The attacks, which also included a suicide bombing at a police training school, were carried out on Friday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic