13 Afghan Taliban personnel killed in overnight border clash, Pakistan says. Kabul denies the claim

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Overnight fighting along the southwestern border left at least 13 Afghan Taliban personnel dead, Pakistan said Friday, in a claim Afghanistan denied. It was the latest escalation between the neighbors following Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry said in a post on X that its forces repelled what it called an “attempted Afghan aggression” in the Gulistan sector of southwestern Balochistan province. It said “at least 13 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed and several injured” Thursday night.

The strikes marked a sharp escalation in fighting between the two South Asian countries and risked further complicating international efforts to ease tensions between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan routinely accuses Kabul of allowing militants, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks across the border. Kabul denies the accusation.

The Pakistani Information Ministry rejected a claim by Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry that Afghanistan had destroyed a Pakistani post near the southern Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, opposite the Pakistani city of Chaman. It posted videos it said showed Pakistani troops firing artillery at Afghan positions.

Residents in Chaman said the exchange of fire continued for hours on Thursday.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage or the casualty claims by either side. An uneasy calm prevailed along the border Friday, with no new fighting reported.

In Kabul, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry denied that its forces had suffered any casualties. It said in a post on X that Afghan personnel had instead destroyed a Pakistani post Thursday and described Pakistan’s account of the fighting as false.

The competing claims came a day after Pakistan said it carried out airstrikes on 10 sites in Afghanistan that it described as storage and launch facilities for drones used in attacks against Pakistan on Wednesday.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Thursday that the Pakistani strikes hit the southern and eastern provinces of Kandahar, Paktia and Khost, killing four civilians.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a statement Thursday that the strikes were carried out after eight drones were launched from Afghanistan and Afghan forces shelled Pakistani border posts. He said the attacks followed an attempt by militants to infiltrate Pakistan that was thwarted by Pakistani troops.

Tensions had already intensified Monday when Pakistani fighter jets struck sites in eastern Afghanistan that Islamabad described as militant hideouts. Pakistan said those strikes killed 28 militants, while Afghan authorities said three civilians were killed, a toll confirmed by the United Nations.

The renewed hostilities threaten mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia aimed at securing lasting peace between the two countries.

The Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban. The group has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021.

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Afghan reported from Kabul.