Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,600km (1,600 miles) rugged and mountainous border known as the Durand Line.
Fierce and intense clashes erupted along the Durand Line or the Pak-Afghan border on the night of 11th October and this comes after the alleged Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul that targeted some top leaders of the TTP. During the night the TTP forces launched armed strikes against the Pakistan army and initially claimed to have seized two Pakistani posts in the province of Helmand. Pakistani security officials acknowledged clashes at several border locations, stating they were responding forcefully. “Tonight, Taliban forces began firing at several border points. We retaliated with artillery at four locations along the border,” a Pakistani government official told the media. “We will not tolerate any aggression from the Afghan Taliban within our territory. Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire, effectively targeting several Afghan border posts,” the official added.
Before these strikes the media was full of news that Pakistan had carried out air strikes on targets in Afghanistan but the news was not confirmed by the ISPR or any official source in Pakistan but the Afghan Govt. accused Pakistan of carrying out armed strikes in its territory. Pakistan and Afghanistan are not at war not yet at least. Both these Islamic countries and close neighbors have never been very close or friendly to each other. Afghanistan was the only country in the world that voted against Pakistan in the UN and opposed Pakistan’s entry to the UN. Border clashes erupted between the two countries in the 1960s and relations have been sour because Afghanistan’s claim that the Durand Line is not the border between the two countries and Pakhtunistan includes the KPK and parts of Baluchistan as well. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 Pakistan has played host to over four million Afghan refugees and continues to do so even after forty years. Pakistan was also in the frontline of the war against the Soviet occupation and played a key role the defeat of the Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
Since after the return of the Taliban in Kabul after the hasty departure of the American forces in 2021the new Taliban govt. in Kabul has played host to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and provided them funds, shelter arms and training to launch strikes on Pakistan from their safe havens inside Afghanistan. In these latest clashes Afghan forces during the night of 11th October opened fire at many locations all along the borderincluding Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Dir and Chitral areas in KPK and Zhob district in Baluchistan. This action was taken in aid of the TTP insurgents to facilitate their cross border incursions and in return Pakistan Army’s alert and ever vigilant posts responded swiftly and forcefully. By the swift response of the army numerous Afghan border posts were annihilated and hundreds of Afghan soldiers and TTP militants were killed and the Taliban forces were forced to abandon their posts and run inland for safety.The Afghan Taliban Ministry of Defense, late into the night, released a statement saying: “We will now be stopping our ‘retaliatory actions’ against Pakistan and expect Pakistan not to strike back.” However, clashes continued across the border.
Shelling continued all along the border with the army targeting Afghan posts helping terrorist militants. Pakistan army attacked terrorist forces in Chaghi and destroyed many positions of the entrenched militants and caution was exercised to avoid civilian targets and to target only those afghan posts who were helping the militants. Afghan posts reportedly failed to provide cover and sustained heavy losses. Pakistan’s security forces employed artillery, tanks, and both light and heavy weaponry. In addition, aerial assets and drones were used to target terrorist positions and Afghan force headquarters accused of sheltering Daesh and Khawarij element. Video footage of the Afghan Jandusar post being destroyed was released. Other footage showed multiple Afghan posts destroyed overnight, with Afghan soldiers deserting their positions and leaving behind bodies and equipment.
Pakistani security forces also targeted Afghan posts opposite the Kurram border, demolishing several, some of which were seen engulfed in flames.
Video footage of the Afghan Jandusar post being destroyed was released. Other footage showed multiple Afghan posts destroyed overnight, with Afghan soldiers deserting their positions and leaving behind bodies and equipment.
Pakistani security forces also targeted Afghan posts opposite the Kurram border, demolishing several, some of which were seen engulfed in flames. Turkmanzai Top and Kharchur Fort — described by Pakistan’s military as militant hubs — were also effectively destroyed.Out of the various armed groups operating from Afghanistan the TTP is the biggest threat to Pakistan that has constantly waged an armed insurgency against Pakistan since 2007. The TTP seeks to implement strict Sharia law and has demanded for a reversal of the merger of Pakistan’s former tribal areas with the KPK province. TTP isindependent of the Afghan Taliban but the two are politically and ideologically aligned. TTP attacks have increased manifold since the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan in August 2021. “Our data show that the TTP engaged in at least 600 attacks against, or clashes with, security forces in the past year alone. Its activity in 2025 so far already exceeds that seen in all of 2024,” a recent report by the US-based Armed Conflict Location &Event Data (ACLED) project said. In the last few days, several attacks have killed more than two dozen Pakistani soldiers, including officers, with the latest such incident on October 8.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad
