Fresh Pakistan-Afghanistan border clashes leave dozens dead as airstrikes rock Kandahar

Tensions flared once again along the volatile Pakistan-Afghanistan border as fierce clashes between Pakistani forces and Taliban fighters left dozens dead, including civilians, late Tuesday night. The latest violence marks a dangerous escalation in hostilities that have been simmering for weeks between the two neighbours.

According to reports from both sides, the fighting began near Spin Boldak in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and quickly spread along the border. Hours after the first reports of clashes, Pakistan launched an airstrike targeting positions across the frontier in Kandahar, Reuters reported, citing security officials.

Pakistan’s military said it repelled two major assaults by Taliban fighters on border posts in the country’s southwest and northwest regions. Around 20 Taliban militants were reportedly killed in attacks launched near Spin Boldak, while another 30 were believed to have died in overnight fighting along the northwestern frontier, according to AFP.

“Unfortunately, the attack was orchestrated through divided villages in the area, with no regard for the civilian population,” Pakistan’s military said in a statement. Afghan officials, however, reported heavy civilian casualties, saying 15 people were killed and dozens injured as mortar fire struck residential areas.

In the Pakistani border district of Orakzai, six paramilitary soldiers were killed and several others injured during clashes with militants, Reuters reported. The Taliban government’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, accused Pakistani forces of carrying out repeated attacks using “light and heavy weapons” in the border districts.

The renewed fighting follows violent confrontations last weekend when Afghan forces launched attacks on Pakistani soldiers, calling it “retaliation” for airstrikes on Kabul on October 7. Afghanistan claimed it killed 58 Pakistani soldiers, while Pakistan countered that only 23 were killed on its side and that more than 200 Taliban fighters were neutralized in return fire.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed a strong response to the Taliban’s aggression, warning that the country would defend its sovereignty “with full force.” The situation had briefly calmed after mediation efforts by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but the latest clashes suggest that the fragile truce has collapsed.

Local Afghan officials said the civilian toll remains high. Ali Mohammad Haqmal, spokesman for Spin Boldak’s information department, confirmed 15 civilian deaths and more than 80 injuries, including women and children. Hospital authorities in the region echoed those figures, underscoring the growing humanitarian toll of the ongoing conflict.

With cross-border tensions reaching dangerous new heights, analysts fear that both sides are inching closer to a prolonged military confrontation that could destabilize the wider South Asian region.