Border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the weekend have left dozens of soldiers dead, marking the most serious confrontation between the two neighbors since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in 2021.By Monday, the exchange of fire had largely ceased.
Late on Saturday, Taliban forces attacked Pakistani military posts along the 2,600 km (1,600 miles) border, prompting retaliation from Pakistani forces. The fighting involved guns, artillery, and drones, continuing sporadically into Sunday. Pakistan reported 23 soldiers killed, while the Taliban confirmed nine of their fighters dead, though both sides claimed to have inflicted higher casualties on the other, according to Reuters.
People carry a Pakistani flag-draped coffin of soldier Aslam jadran, who died following the overnight border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, during a funeral in Kurram, tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan October 12, 2025. REUTERS/Syed Basit
The flare-up followed a Pakistani air strike on Kabul the previous week targeting the head of the Pakistani Taliban militant group. The Taliban described the Saturday attack as retaliation for what they called a violation of Afghan airspace.
Pakistani Taliban
The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was formed in 2007 by jihadist outfits from Pakistan’s Pashtun region. Modeled on the Afghan Taliban but more radical, the TTP has carried out attacks on markets, mosques, military bases, and police stations in Pakistan, and has historically collaborated with Afghan Taliban fighters. A major 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar killed over 130 children, prompting further military offensives that pushed the group into Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Pakistan initially welcomed the change but soon faced increased TTP attacks, claiming the group operates from Afghan territory. Islamabad has repeatedly requested Kabul rein in the militants, but the Afghan government denies the TTP maintains a presence there.
A man sits next to trucks parked at the Torkham border crossing, after Pakistan closed border crossings with Afghanistan, following exchanges of fire between the forces of the two countries, in Torkham, Pakistan, October 12, 2025. REUTERS/Shahid Shinwari
Pakistan has also accused India of collaborating with Afghanistan to support the TTP, a claim New Delhi denies. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is currently on a multi-day visit to India, where ties between the two countries have been strengthened, raising concerns in Islamabad, Reuters reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on the conflict while en route to the Middle East, stating: “I hear there’s a war now going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I’ll have to wait till I get back. You know, I’m doing another one, because I’m good at solving wars,”as noted in Reuters.
