58 Pakistani soldiers killed in cross-border clashes: Afghanistan

New Delhi, Oct 12: Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban government of Afghanistan, said that 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 30 others wounded during a large-scale operation conducted across the Durand Line on Saturday night, TOLO News reported.

Mujahid stated that the retaliatory operations targeted multiple Pakistani security outposts following recent airstrikes by Pakistan inside Afghan territory.

He said that 20 Pakistani border posts were destroyed and several weapons were seized during the fighting.

The Taliban spokesperson confirmed that nine Afghan soldiers were killed and 16 others wounded in the clashes.

He said the operation was suspended at midnight after requests from Qatar and Saudi Arabia for de-escalation. Mujahid also alleged that ISIS-K has established training centres inside Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after being defeated in Afghanistan.

He said that militants were being moved through Karachi and Islamabad airports to these facilities, and that recent attacks in Iran and Moscow were planned from these bases.

He accused Pakistan of sheltering key ISIS-K figures and called on Islamabad to hand them over to the government. Mujahid added that Pakistan had proposed sending a delegation to Kabul, but the Taliban rejected the request in protest against Pakistan’s airstrikes earlier in the week. Taliban forces reportedly carried out retaliatory operations along several points of the disputed Durand Line late Saturday.

Mujahid warned that any violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty would be met with a firm response.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the Taliban’s actions as “unprovoked,” alleging that Afghan forces had targeted civilians.

He warned that Pakistani forces would respond “with a stone for every brick, “reports BBC. Pakistan Minister Naqvi posted on X that he “strongly condemns” the Taliban’s actions, calling the attacks on civilians “a blatant violation of international law.”

He said that “Afghanistan is playing a game of fire and blood.”

Pakistan’s military has yet to issue an official statement, though a spokesperson said necessary steps would be taken to safeguard Pakistani citizens and property, BBC reported.

The clashes follow Taliban accusations last week that Pakistan bombed a market in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, killing civilians and destroying several shops.

Kabul called the airstrike a breach of its sovereignty.

Pakistani officials, however, claim Afghanistan has become a “base of operations for terrorism” against Pakistan, a charge the Taliban deny.

The border flare-up comes as Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is visiting India for the first time since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

During his visit, India announced plans to reopen its embassy in Kabul, four years after it was closed when the Taliban seized power.

Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Maulana Amir Khan Muttaqi, also visited the Darul Uloom Deoband Islamic seminary in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district on Saturday, carrying deep symbolic importance, reflecting the Taliban government’s bid to strengthen religious, educational, and diplomatic engagement with India.