15 Pakistani Soldiers Killed As Taliban Hits Back Hard After Kabul Airstrikes

15 Pakistani Soldiers Killed As Taliban Hits Back Hard After Kabul Airstrikes

Fifteen Pakistani soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand province after the Taliban forces retaliated to Pakistani airstrikes in Afghan territory, including the capital Kabul.

Mawlawi Mohammad Qasim Riaz, spokesperson for the Helmand provincial government, told the media that 15 Pakistani soldiers were killed during last night’s retaliatory operations by Afghan forces near the Durand Line in Bahrampur district. He said Afghan forces also captured three Pakistani military outposts during this operation and seized weapons and ammunition.

Hitting back after Pakistan’s recent airstrikes in Kabul and Paktika provinces, Afghan forces have started targeting Pakistani posts in the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Paktia, Khost, Nangarhar, and Kunar. All these provinces are located along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Airstrikes, Then Reprisal

Three explosions were reported in Afghanistan on Thursday — two in Kabul and one in the southeastern Paktika. The Taliban-run defence ministry blamed Islamabad and accused it of violating its sovereignty.

“In retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul, Taliban forces are engaged in heavy clashes against Pakistani security forces in various areas” along the border, the Afghan military said in a statement.

Pakistan Summons Afghan Envoy Over Joint Statement Issued During India Visit

Later, defence ministry spokesman Enayat Khowarazm told news agency AFP that the “successful” operations had ended at midnight. “If the opposing side violates Afghanistan’s territory again, our armed forces are ready to defend their territory and will respond firmly.”

Islamabad did not confirm it was behind Thursday’s attacks, but it called on Kabul “to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban on its soil.”

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan

Also known as the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan is an ideological ally of the Afghan Taliban and assisted it during the 2001-2021 conflict.

Islamabad has accused the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan of having killed hundreds of its soldiers since 2021. “This evening, Taliban forces began using weapons. We fired first light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border,” a senior official in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, told AFP.

“Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire and shot down three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives. Intense fighting continues, but so far, no casualties have been reported,” he continued.

Pak-Afghan Border Tension Escalates: Fierce Clashes Erupt, Taliban Issues Warning

According to an AFP report, TTP militants have intensified their campaign of violence against Pakistani security forces in the mountainous areas bordering Afghanistan in recent months.

Islamabad alleged that Afghanistan has failed to expel militants using its territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, a charge denied by Kabul.

Pakistan’s Warning

Earlier this year, a UN report said the TTP “receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities”, an apparent reference to the Taliban government in Kabul.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told its National Assembly last week that efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop backing the TTP had failed. “We will no longer tolerate this. United, we must respond to those facilitating them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or Afghan soil,” he said.  On Saturday, the TTP claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in northwest Pakistan that left 20 security officials and three civilians dead, news agency AFP reported. NDTV