Pakistan Seizes 19 Afghan Posts in Major Border Escalation
Pakistan grabs 19 Afghan outposts amid deadly crossfire retaliation.
Tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and Afghanistan have boiled over into open conflict along their volatile Durand Line border, with Pakistani forces seizing 19 Afghan military posts and alleged terrorist hideouts in a swift counteroffensive. The escalation, reported on October 12, 2025, follows what Islamabad described as "unprovoked" assaults by Taliban-led Afghan troops, triggering a barrage of artillery, tanks, drones, and airstrikes that left both sides claiming heavy enemy losses. As Kabul vows fierce defense of its sovereignty, the skirmishes threaten to ignite a broader regional crisis, echoing years of simmering disputes over cross-border militancy.
The flare-up erupted late Saturday when Afghan security forces launched coordinated strikes on Pakistani positions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, and Chitral districts, as well as Baramcha in Balochistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the operations demolished 20 Pakistani outposts, seized weapons stockpiles, and inflicted devastating casualties: 58 Pakistani soldiers killed and 30 wounded. "Our forces halted at midnight following appeals from Qatar and Saudi Arabia," Mujahid told Tolo News, admitting nine Afghan deaths and 16 injuries in the fierce exchanges. Afghanistan's Defense Ministry hailed the actions as "successful retaliatory measures," warning that any further incursions would provoke an "unyielding response" to safeguard territorial integrity.
Pakistan's riposte came at dawn Sunday, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi branding the Afghan incursions a "flagrant breach of international law" for endangering civilians. "Our valiant troops have responded decisively—no aggression goes unanswered. We're repaying bricks with stones," Naqvi declared, underscoring heightened vigilance along the frontier. Security sources, cited by state broadcaster PTV News on X, detailed a multi-pronged assault that overran key Afghan sites, forcing retreats and capturing militants. Videos circulating on social media, showed blazing outposts, surrendering Afghan troops in Kurram, and precision strikes on Taliban armor— including the obliteration of a tank position and the Second Battalion Headquarters of Afghanistan's First Brigade in Baramcha, a purported hub for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operatives.
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The strikes extended to notorious "kharijite" and Daesh sanctuaries—terms Pakistan uses for the outlawed TTP and ISIS affiliates sheltered by the Taliban regime—razing facilities like Durani Camp No. 2, where over 50 fighters were reportedly slain. In Kharlachi and Baramcha, outposts such as Doran Mela, Turkmanzai, Afghani Shaheedan, and Jandoser lay in ruins, with sources boasting "heavy losses" among Afghan ranks and militants denied covering fire. Radio Pakistan aired footage of "kharjis and Afghan soldiers being neutralized," while Pakistani defenses repelled infiltration bids in Pishin and Zhob districts. No official word from the Pakistan Army, but the operation's ferocity—leveraging air assets and heavy weaponry—signals a zero-tolerance pivot against perceived Afghan complicity in TTP raids.
This deadly tit-for-tat stems from a string of TTP bombings, including last week's Orakzai ambush that felled 11 Pakistani troops, including a lieutenant colonel and major, with militants allegedly staging from Afghan soil. Thursday's mysterious Kabul explosions—blamed on Islamabad by Afghan officials but unacknowledged by Pakistan—appear to have lit the fuse, prompting Saturday's Afghan fury. The Taliban, ruling since 2021, has repeatedly denied harboring anti-Pakistan insurgents, but Islamabad's frustration peaked last year when it rebranded TTP as "Fitna al-Khawarij," invoking historical Islamic rebels to underscore the group's "heretical" threat.
As smoke clears from the frontier, the clash unfolds against Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's sensitive visit to India, potentially straining Kabul's diplomatic outreach. With both sides digging in—Pakistan targeting "patronized" terror nests and Afghanistan priming for reprisals—the fragile peace along the 2,640-km border hangs by a thread. International mediators like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, who brokered the midnight pause, face an uphill battle to de-escalate, lest this border brawl spirals into full-scale war, destabilizing South Asia's powder keg.
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