Border clashes continue between Pakistan, Afghanistan

- Pakistani army claims predawn attack by Afghan Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants at 4 border locations

ISLAMABAD

Border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan continued on Wednesday.

The latest clashes were reported along the border in the Spin Boldak area of Afghanistan in southern Kandahar province, which borders southwestern Balochistan province in Pakistan.

The Pakistani army, in an official statement, claimed that the Afghan Taliban launched a predawn attack at four locations in Balochistan.

The statement claimed that eight Afghan posts and six tanks “were destroyed,” and that “25-30 Afghan Taliban and Fitna Al Khwarij (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) fighters were suspected to have been killed” while “repulsing the attack.”

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Afghan interim administration, said 12 Afghan people were killed and over 100 others injured during the clashes.

He claimed that the Afghan side had allegedly captured a tank from the Pakistani side in “counterattacks.”

However, a Pakistani security official denied that Afghan forces had captured a tank.

The official added that the Afghan Taliban was asking for a ceasefire after "a powerful response" from Pakistan.

Pakistani security sources also claimed to have "eliminated several terrorists" and "seized US-made weapons in the Kurram sector" of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Sharif vows to defend sovereignty

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep concern over the “provocations” by the Afghan Taliban and TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban) militants along the border.

Sharif reaffirmed that Pakistan’s national integrity and sovereignty “will be defended at all costs,” and “strongly condemned the use of Afghan soil for terrorist activities inside Pakistan," according to a statement from his office.