Taliban says its fighters seized Pakistani border post amid escalating clashes

# Taliban says its fighters seized Pakistani border post amid escalating clashes

Taliban officials said on the event date that their forces captured a Pakistani border post in eastern Afghanistan and killed 14 Pakistani soldiers, but Pakistan rejected the claim as fighting intensified along the frontier.

According to Kabul Now, the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense said its fighters seized the post in attacks along the border areas of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. The same statement said 11 Pakistani soldiers were wounded and that a Pakistani armored vehicle and an “International” military truck were destroyed. Pakistan’s authorities rejected the claim, and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the Taliban’s account was false.

The dispute matters because the two sides were already in an escalating cycle of attacks and counterattacks. The report said the Taliban described its latest operations as a response to Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory on Thursday. It also said Pakistani forces had repeatedly targeted border regions with rocket and artillery fire over the previous two weeks, causing damage to civilian infrastructure and forcing thousands of families to flee.

The border violence was not limited to a single post. Taliban officials also reported attacks on several Pakistani positions in Nangarhar, particularly near Dur Baba district, though details on casualties or damage there were not released. In Kunar, local Taliban authorities said Pakistani forces struck a school in Dangam district on Saturday morning, wounding the guard and damaging the building.

Pakistan framed the fighting differently. Tarar said the Taliban’s allegations had “no basis or foundation” and said Pakistan’s Ministry of Information had documented damage inflicted on the Afghan side with video and photographic evidence. He also said Pakistani strikes had targeted what he called terrorist infrastructure inside Afghanistan, including bases and logistical camps in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar, and denied that civilians were targeted.

The civilian cost, however, was a central part of the wider picture. The report said the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan confirmed that at least four civilians were killed and 14 others, including women and children, were wounded in strikes in Kabul. It also said United Nations data showed at least 75 civilians killed and 193 wounded during the recent escalation, while thousands of families were displaced in border areas.

China has also entered the diplomatic picture. The report said Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi that Beijing was ready to play a constructive role and that military action was not a solution. That suggests the fighting is now large enough to attract outside mediation talk, even as the two sides trade accusations.

For now, the most important fact is that neither side appears willing to accept the other’s account. The Taliban says it inflicted heavy losses on Pakistani forces. Pakistan says the claims are false and that its own strikes targeted militant infrastructure. Until there is independent verification, the episode remains a contested but dangerous escalation along one of South Asia’s most volatile borders.