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2025 Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict

2025 border conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan

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Following the attack, the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense announced the conclusion of their operation. However, Pakistani officials rejected the Taliban’s ceasefire declaration and continued their offensive, which was confirmed by a Taliban spokesman, noting that clashes persisted into the morning of 12 October. On the same day, reports emerged of Pakistani drone strikes in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, killing 19 Taliban fighters, though these casualties were not confirmed by Taliban officials. Both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on each other and captured or destroyed several border posts. Satellite imagery of a Taliban military compound in Spin Boldak showed that it had suffered significant damage during the clashes.

Heavy fighting resumed on 15 October, with both sides accusing the other of initiating the violence. The fiercest fighting occurred around Spin Boldak, where civilian casualties were reported. Pakistan later announced “precision” airstrikes inside Afghanistan, which Afghan locals and media said hit Kabul and military sites in Kandahar, while the Taliban attributed the Kabul explosion to an oil-tanker blast. Following a 48-hour ceasefire, which was only set by Pakistan publicly, the Pakistani military carried out airstrikes in Paktika province after the truce expired. The Taliban accused Pakistan of targeting civilians in Paktika, while Pakistan rebutted that the strikes targeted militants belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, a faction of the TTP. On 19 October, Qatar announced that Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed to a ceasefire after extensive Doha talks mediated by Qatar and Turkey. Under this ceasefire declaration, the Afghan government agreed to halt support for the TTP, while both sides pledged to refrain from targeting each other’s security forces, civilians, or critical infrastructure.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) disclosed that 37 Afghan civilians had died and 425 others had been injured due to cross-border violence in Afghanistan.

Background

Pakistan has accused the Afghan government in recent years of allowing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, to use Afghan soil as a safe haven to plan and launch attacks across the border into Pakistan.

The issue has repeatedly strained diplomatic relations, with Kabul summoning Pakistani ambassadors on several occasions to protest alleged violations of Afghan sovereignty.

Cross-border operations and airstrikes inside Afghan provinces such as Paktika, Khost, Nangarhar, and Kunar have taken place in both 2024 and 2025 as Pakistan has repeatedly claimed that it has targeted anti-Pakistani militant hideouts.

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