Wednesday 04 / March / 2026
Pakistan said its military posts along the border came under attack by Afghan Taliban forces on Tuesday, sparking renewed clashes that killed 67 Afghan troops and one Pakistani soldier.
Afghanistan rejected that account as "baseless." The Taliban government in Kabul instead said its forces had successfully repelled attacks from Pakistan and killed four Pakistani soldiers.
Fighting between the two countries erupted on Thursday last week, when Afghan Taliban troops launched a border offensive in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes carried out the previous weekend.
Since then, Islamabad has declared it is in an "open war" with Afghanistan and has carried out new strikes on multiple sites, including the former US air base at Bagram, the capital, Kabul, and the southern city of Kandahar.
UN says civilians caught up in the war
The UN mission in Afghanistan reported that 42 civilians had been killed and 104 wounded since Thursday, while the UN World Food Program said the violence had led to the "displacement of approximately 20,000 families."
The UN mission called for an immediate halt to the fighting, saying it was causing the already dire humanitarian situation to deteriorate.
Differing casualty numbers
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khowarazmi said at a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday that, in the last 24 hours, Afghan Taliban forces had conducted a counteroffensive along the Durand Line — a disputed border between the two countries.
He said 28 Afghan soldiers had been killed in the conflict so far, with around 150 Pakistani troop fatalities.
Pakistan's figures different significantly, with an estimated 150 Pakistani troops dead and more than 450 Afghan soldiers killed since the start of the conflict.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
What is the conflict about?
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring armed militants from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group responsible for staging attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul rejects the charge.
Afghan Defense Minister Khawarazmi reiterated Tuesday that the government "will not allow any person or group to use our territory against other countries."
The latest violence is the worst seen in the region since October, when fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides. Several rounds of peace talks were held in November in Turkey, but they ended without a lasting agreement.
Pakistan has said that it plans to continue its military operations until Afghanistan takes steps to rein in the TTP and other militant groups.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday it was "never too late to talk," but at the same time pledged to "finish this menace."
