Afghan Taliban mortar fire kills 1 civilian, wounds 5 in northwest Pakistan border clash

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan Taliban forces fired mortars into a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold in restive northwestern Pakistan, killing a civilian and wounding five others, a Pakistani government official said early Wednesday.

The shelling damaged shops in a bazaar in South Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border, a local government administrator said on X. He said Pakistani forces along the border were responding “effectively and heavily.”

There was no immediate comment from Kabul, and it was unclear what triggered the exchange of fire.

The clash came days after Islamabad urged Kabul to take verifiable action against militants it accuses of using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Gov. Faisal Karim Kundi condemned what he described as unprovoked Afghan Taliban aggression against civilian homes and the Angoor Adda bazaar in Lower South Waziristan. He praised the Pakistani military’s response and said the province had sacrificed thousands of lives in the fight against terrorism.

“Pakistan will never tolerate attacks on its people or violations of its sovereignty,” Kundi said in a statement.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have escalated following repeated border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan this year, deepening a longstanding dispute over militant activity.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering the Pakistani Taliban , known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, as well as the separatist Baloch Liberation Army or BLA. The Pakistani Taliban are separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban.

Kabul has repeatedly denied allowing militants to use Afghan territory to attack Pakistan.

Pakistan has seen a surge in violence in recent years, which authorities largely blame on the Pakistani Taliban and allied militant groups. The Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups frequently target Pakistani security forces and have been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.