Overnight Violence Between Afghanistan and Pakistan Threatens a Wider Conflict

Asia Pacific|Overnight Violence Between Afghanistan and Pakistan Threatens a Wider Conflict

Tensions along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan surged on Sunday after a fierce overnight clash of the countries’ militaries, with both sides exchanging heavy fire in one of the sharpest escalations of violence between the neighbors in years.

The latest flare-up came after attacks last week in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and at a market near the border, which the Taliban government attributed to Pakistan.

Afghan officials said on Sunday that their security forces had targeted Pakistani military outposts along the border in what they described as “retaliatory operations,” following what Kabul said were Pakistani airstrikes that had violated Afghan airspace and struck a market on Thursday. The Taliban government claimed to have killed dozens of Pakistani soldiers in the overnight attacks.

Pakistani officials confirmed that Pakistan’s military had exchanged fire along the border, killing several Taliban fighters, but they did not immediately address details of the confrontation or the Taliban government’s claims.

The overnight fighting raised concerns that isolated violence could spill into a broader conflict between the two countries, whose governments have become increasingly hostile to each other in recent months. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran have urged restraint. India, which on Friday announced expanded diplomatic ties with the Taliban government, did not immediately react to the clash.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, told reporters on Sunday that the fighting had stopped at midnight after requests from Qatar and Saudi Arabia. “The situation along all official borders and demarcation lines of Afghanistan is under full control,” he said, warning that any violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty “will not go unanswered.”