Pakistan strikes Afghan targets, claims 300+ killed in border clashes
The Afghan government claimed 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in its counterattacks.
Pakistan's military, supported by artillery and air power, launched strikes deep inside Afghanistan overnight and into early today (28 February), killing more than 300 Afghan personnel amid days of fierce border clashes, officials said.
The fighting began Thursday night (26 February) after Afghanistan struck Pakistani positions in retaliation for attacks that Islamabad said targeted seven training camps and hideouts of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a separate group allied with Afghanistan's Taliban.
Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said over 331 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 500 wounded. He added that Pakistan destroyed 102 Afghan posts, captured 22, and destroyed 163 tanks and armoured vehicles at 37 sites.
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State media reported that the Pakistan Air Force targeted key military installations across eastern Afghanistan today.
Authorities said hundreds of residents near the northwestern Torkham border have fled to safer areas, while dozens of Afghan refugees waiting at the border were transported to secure locations inside Pakistan.
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry confirmed that its forces struck Pakistani military bases in Miranshah and Spin Wam overnight, destroying installations and causing heavy casualties in response to Pakistan's airstrikes. The Afghan Department of Information and Culture accused Pakistan of hitting civilian areas, destroying homes, and killing at least 11 people.
Mullah Taj Mohammad Naqshbandi, an Afghan border official, said, "Brave forces of the Islamic Emirate destroyed the Pakistani military regime's commissariat, military units, and three key security towers."
The Afghan government claimed 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in its counterattacks, with Afghan losses far lower than Pakistan's claims. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attacks were "a message that our hands can reach their throats" and criticised Pakistan for avoiding dialogue.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif declared on X that "our patience has run out" and warned of open war. Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Afghanistan had to "choose TTP or Pakistan."
Civilians are struggling amid the conflict, with Afghan refugees at Torkham unable to return home and locals near the border urging a ceasefire. Tensions, which escalated last October, had briefly eased under a Qatari-mediated truce, but peace talks in Turkey failed to produce a lasting deal.
Regional powers, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and China, are again seeking to mediate. Qatar's state minister, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, spoke with the foreign ministers of both countries yesterday (27 February) in an effort to reduce tensions.
