New Delhi: Pakistani security sources said on Friday that forces had thwarted an attempted incursion from Afghanistan in the Gulistan sector, killing several Afghan Taliban personnel as fresh fighting deepened tensions between the two neighbours. Intermittent firing was continuing and Pakistani forces remained on alert, according to the sources, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government had not immediately responded to the latest allegations.
Gulistan lies in Killa Abdullah district of Pakistan’s Balochistan province along the frontier with Afghanistan. Reuters reported, citing Pakistani security sources, that forces had thwarted an attempted entry into Pakistani territory, killing several Afghan Taliban personnel, while intermittent firing continued. The account has not been independently verified, and Kabul had not immediately responded to the allegations.
Clash follows strikes inside Afghanistan
As RNA Media reported earlier, Pakistan said on September 24 that it had carried out aerial and drone strikes on 10 locations inside Afghanistan that it claimed were being used to launch and store drones. The information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operation followed eight alleged drone incursions from Afghan territory, while Taliban officials denied that their government had launched the drones.
Afghanistan said on Thursday’s strikes hit Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces and killed four civilians. The Taliban government spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, condemned the attacks and warned of an “appropriate response”, but Kabul had not issued a separate response to Pakistan’s account of the Gulistan clash at the time of publication.
The latest exchanges followed Pakistani airstrikes on September 21 that Islamabad said killed 28 militants in Afghanistan. That figure has not been independently verified; Afghan officials and the United Nations confirmed that three civilians – a man, a woman and a girl – were killed.
TTP dispute remains at centre of tensions
Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of allowing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allied armed groups to operate from Afghan territory and carry out attacks across the border. Kabul rejects the allegation and says militancy inside Pakistan is an internal Pakistani issue. The TTP and Afghanistan’s Taliban government are separate organizations, although they have longstanding ties.
The deterioration also follows the September 18 attack on a police compound and mosque in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Reuters later reported, citing AFP and police officials, that the death toll had risen to 31. Pakistan has linked its wider security concerns to armed groups it says operate from Afghanistan, a claim Kabul disputes.
Pakistan and Afghanistan experienced their heaviest fighting in years in February before nearly three months of relative calm. The renewed airstrikes and border exchanges have added pressure on mediation efforts involving China, Turkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Immediate attention remains on whether firing around Gulistan continues, whether Kabul formally responds to Pakistan’s account and whether the latest confrontation affects border crossings or efforts to return the two sides to diplomatic talks.