AdSense Advertisement

Pakistan Army Destroys Multiple Taliban Tanks in Fresh Border Clashes

By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD: In fresh border clashes between Pakistani security forces and Afghan Taliban along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the Kurram sector, where Pakistani forces have launched large-scale retaliatory operations against Afghan Taliban fighters and militant groups described as Fitna al-Khawarij, security sources said late Tuesday.

The confrontation erupted shortly after Afghan Taliban forces launched unprovoked cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani military posts — an escalation that came days after Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and senior defense officials in New Delhi last week.

According to security sources, at least 23 Pakistani soldiers and over 250 Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were killed in the ongoing clashes across multiple points along the frontier.

Pakistan’s military has reportedly destroyed six Taliban tanks and several fortified posts in precise strikes at Turkmanzai Top, Nargsar, and Shamshad positions inside Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktia provinces. Flames from burning armored vehicles and posts were visible across the border, the sources added.

Key Fitna al-Khawarij commanders were among those killed, while Taliban fighters were seen fleeing from their positions, abandoning vehicles and weapons. In one instance, Taliban operatives hoisted a white flag at a damaged border post before retreating.

Afghan sources said at least 40 Taliban militants were killed in the fresh clashes.

Security officials said Pakistan’s operations would continue until all threats from across the border are neutralized, adding that Taliban positions and training camps — including one linked to a foreign operative identified as Malik Naeem — have been “completely destroyed.”

The latest escalation marks one of the fiercest exchanges between Pakistani forces and the Afghan Taliban since the fall of Kabul in 2021, underscoring a rapid deterioration in bilateral ties following renewed coordination between Taliban officials and Indian leadership.