Pakistani security sources reported fresh fighting with Afghan Taliban forces in Upper Kurram. They said Pakistani troops responded to fire from across the border and struck military positions. Casualty and destruction claims were not independently verified, and there was no immediate Afghan response. The confrontation followed recurring armed disputes between the neighbours.
Pakistani security sources reported fresh fighting on Saturday with Afghan Taliban forces in Upper Kurram, part of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the Afghan border. Unnamed officials said Afghan forces opened fire in the Taida sector and Pakistani troops responded. The accounts came from the Pakistani side; Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities had not immediately commented.[1], [2]
Officials said Pakistani troops targeted the Topsar border post and Shipola camp, military positions on the Afghan side. They claimed the camp had been destroyed and Afghan personnel had suffered casualties. Those claims could not be independently verified. Officials accused Afghan forces of trying to facilitate militants crossing into Pakistan. That account of their purpose was the Pakistani officials’ allegation.[1]
The neighbours have faced recurring armed confrontations since major border clashes in October last year. Their frontier runs for roughly 2,600 kilometres. Pakistan accuses Kabul of sheltering militants behind attacks on Pakistani territory, particularly Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an armed Pakistani Taliban group. Kabul rejects that accusation and says Pakistan’s security problems are an internal matter. Pakistani officials said firing was continuing when the new confrontation was reported.[1]
