An Afghan military source tells Al Jazeera that 13 border posts were captured, while Pakistan denies any posts were taken.
Posted on February 26, 2026
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Updated: an hour ago
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities say they launched attacks on Pakistani military positions along their border in response to Pakistani airstrikes last week, while Pakistan said its forces had retaliated.
The Afghan military’s press office in the east said in a statement that “heavy clashes” began late Thursday “in response to recent airstrikes carried out by Pakistani forces in Nangarhar and Paktia provinces.”
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“In response to repeated provocations and violations by Pakistani military circles, large-scale offensive operations have been launched against Pakistani military positions and facilities along the Durand Line,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote in a post on X.
Relations between the neighbors have plummeted in recent months with land crossings along the 2,611-kilometer-long (1,622-mile) border known as the Durand Line largely closed since deadly October fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides.
An Afghan military source told Al Jazeera that 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 13 outposts captured in Thursday’s attacks, which were carried out in retaliation for Pakistani attacks along the border on Sunday.
Pakistan had said it had killed at least 70 fighters, and Afghanistan rejected the claim, saying civilians, including women and children, had been killed.
Pakistan responds
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on X later on Thursday that Pakistani troops had given an “immediate and effective response” to Taliban fire in several sectors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Taliban regime forces are being punished in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors. Early reports confirm heavy casualties on the Afghan side with multiple posts and equipment destroyed,” the ministry said.
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said on
He did not comment on the Afghan claim that 10 soldiers were killed.
Separately, a Pakistani security source told Al Jazeera that several Afghan soldiers fled from three locations targeted by Pakistani fire in retaliation for Afghan fire coming from those locations.
Growing violence
Security issues are at the center of recent border tensions, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harboring armed groups led by the Pakistani Taliban, known by their acronym TTP, on its territory.
The Pakistani Taliban emerged in 2007 in Pakistan’s tribal districts and is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, but shares deep ideological, social and linguistic ties with the group.
Pearl Pandya, senior South Asia analyst at Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a US-based independent and impartial conflict monitor, told Al Jazeera that the “porous border” with Afghanistan provides fighters with a safe haven to retreat to in the face of military pressure.
“However, the Afghan Taliban does not appear willing to crack down on the TTP, partly due to previous affinities between the two groups, but also out of fear that TTP militants will defect to their main rival, the Islamic State in Khorasan province,” he added.
Pandya said 2025 had been one of the most violent years in more than a decade, with ACLED recording more than 1,000 violent incidents involving the Pakistani Taliban across Pakistan. Trends for 2026 appeared to be “on par” or “slightly higher” than the same period last year.
“In the absence of a serious offensive against the TTP by Afghanistan, further escalation seems inevitable,” Pandya said.
The Afghan Taliban deny Pakistan’s accusations that they are harboring the group.
