- Afghan Taliban fire unprovoked at Kurram border.
- Pakistan Army’s strong retaliation destroys Taliban tank.
- Multiple Taliban posts destroyed during response.
KURRAM: Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij opened unprovoked fire on Pakistani positions along the border in Kurram district, security sources said on Tuesday.
According to the sources, Pakistani troops gave a strong and immediate response, targeting the firing positions of the Afghan Taliban and Fitna-e-Khawarij with intense retaliatory fire.
The exchange inflicted severe damage on multiple Taliban posts, while flames were seen rising from their positions, the sources added.
The sources further confirmed that a Taliban tank was destroyed in the counter-fire, forcing the attackers to abandon their posts and flee from the area.
Security sources reaffirmed that Pakistan’s forces remain on high alert and are fully capable of defending every inch of the country’s borders against any aggression.
Meanwhile, sources further said that the Pakistan armed forces destroyed another Afghan Taliban post and tank position in Kurram sector, adding that Taliban forces fled, leaving several bodies at post.
In another strike, security sources said that the Pakistani forces targeted and destroyed another moving Afghan tank.
According to the sources, the army destroyed the fourth tank position of the Afghan Taliban at Shamshad Post within an hour. The militants affiliated with Fitna al-Khawarij and the Taliban reportedly fled their positions in panic amid the ongoing offensive.
The security sources further said that an important commander of Fitna al-Khawarij was reportedly killed during the major military operation.
This marks the second incident in recent days involving cross-border aggression by the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij. On the night of October 11, Afghan forces had opened unprovoked fire at multiple border points, including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, and Kurram, with similar attacks also reported in Dir, Chitral, Baramcha, and other areas along the Durand Line.
Pakistani forces retaliated swiftly, striking Afghanistan’s border posts and terrorist hideouts across multiple border points overnight, destroying several Afghan posts, and killing more than 200 Afghan Taliban and affiliated terrorists, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
In a statement, the military’s media wing said that Pakistani forces carried out “precision fires and strikes, as well as physical raids, directed against Taliban camps and posts, terrorist training facilities and support networks operating from Afghan territory”.
“Multiple Taliban locations were destroyed all along the border; 21 hostile positions on the Afghan side of the border were also briefly physically captured and multiple terrorist training camps, used to plan and facilitate attacks against Pakistan, were rendered inoperative,” it said, adding that 23 soldiers embraced martyrdom while defending the motherland.
Heightened tensions
Islamabad and Kabul are witnessing heightened tensions amid the interim Afghan government’s reluctance to act against terrorist groups, operating from Afghan soil, in the backdrop of rising terror attacks in Pakistan.
The country has witnessed a surge in cross-border terror incidents since Taliban rulers returned to Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan.
The two nations share a porous border spanning around 2,500 kilometres with several crossing points which hold significance as a key element of regional trade and relations between the people across both sides of the fence.
However, the issue of terrorism remains a key issue for Pakistan, which has urged Afghanistan to prevent its soil from being used by groups such as the TTP to carry out attacks inside the former’s territory.
Islamabad’s reservations have also been confirmed by a report submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which has revealed a nexus between Kabul and the TTP, with the former providing logistical, operational, and financial support to the latter.
Pakistan has hosted Afghans for more than four decades, from the Soviet invasion through the Taliban takeover in 2021. Some refugees were born and raised in Pakistan; others are still waiting for third-country relocation.
According to media reports, following a 2023 crackdown on undocumented Afghans and those exceeding legal status, more than 554,000 Afghans have been returned since April 2025 under Pakistan’s Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan — including around 145,000 in August.
According to security sources, masterminds and facilitators of terrorism are based in Afghanistan and are being supported by India.
