Midnight op & a warning: Intense border clashes between Pak & Taliban forces along border — 10 things to know

Along the jagged spine of the Pakistan -Afghanistan border, where generations have grown up knowing the sound of gunfire and the shadow of conflict, tensions flared again as intense clashes broke out on Saturday night. Taliban forces struck at Pakistani posts, and in return, Pakistan’s military fired back, turning a stretch of mountains and valleys into another arena of conflict.

Earlier in the week, Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of bombing the capital, Kabul, and a market in the country’s east. Pakistan did not claim responsibility for the assault.


Here are 10 things to know:

What Pakistan claimed

1. The violence began when Taliban forces allegedly opened fire on several Pakistani border posts late Saturday.


2. The firing took place at several key posts, including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, Chitral in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baramcha in Balochistan, The Express Tribune reported, as cited by the news agency ANI.


3. Pakistan Security sources said that the firing was aimed at facilitating the illegal entry of Khwarij -- the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- into Pakistani territory, as reported by The Express Tribune.


4, "The counteroffensive effectively targeted and destroyed multiple Afghan posts at border. Dozens of Afghan soldiers and Khwarij were killed in retaliatory fire," news agency ANI reported, citing Express Tribune.


5. Pakistani Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi called the Afghan attacks "unprovoked" and said that Pakistani forces were responding "with a stone for every brick". "Firing by Afghan forces on civilian population is a blatant violation of international laws. Pakistan’s brave forces have given a prompt and effective response that no provocation will be tolerated," he said in a post on X.

What Taliban said
6. Afghanistan’s Taliban forces said they launched armed reprisals against Pakistani soldiers along the border, accusing Islamabad of air strikes on their soil.

Clarification

The Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, tonight conducted a successful retaliatory operation against the centers of Pakistani forces along the Durand Line in response to the repeated violations of Afghanistan's sovereignty by the Pakistani military pic.twitter.com/3mJ2rdxbvb

— د ملي دفاع وزارت - وزارت دفاع ملی (@MoDAfghanistan2) October 11, 2025

7. "In retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul," Taliban forces are engaged "in heavy clashes against Pakistani security forces in various areas" along the border, the Afghan military said in a statement, as citeb by AFP.


8. Later, Taliban defence ministry spokesman Enayat Khowarazm told news agency AFP the "successful" operations had ended at midnight. But he warned: "If the opposing side violates Afghanistan's territory again, our armed forces are ready to defend their territory and will respond firmly."


Bone of contention: TTP

9. Pakistan did not acknowledge carrying out Thursday's attacks but urged Kabul "to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil."

10. The TTP, which has received combat training in Afghanistan and shares the Afghan Taliban’s ideology, is accused by Pakistan of killing hundreds of its soldiers since 2021.


The heightened tensions from Pakistan come as Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, is on a week-long visit to India, marking the first high-level trip from Kabul since the Taliban took power in August 2021.