The latest round of fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan was triggered by Pakistani airstrikes targeting what Islamabad described as militant hideouts inside Afghan territory. Pakistan said the strikes were aimed at fighters from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a separate militant group distinct from Afghanistan’s Taliban government, although the two share ideological roots.
Islamabad accuses the TTP of launching attacks from bases across the border, a claim Kabul denies. Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government condemned the strikes as violations of national sovereignty and rejected accusations that it allows its territory to be used for cross-border attacks.
Tensions quickly escalated, with artillery shelling and exchanges of fire reported along the Durand Line — the disputed frontier that Afghanistan has historically refused to formally recognise as an international border.
Both sides have reported casualties following the air and ground exchanges, though exact figures remain difficult to independently verify due to limited access to the border region.
