🔗 Share this article Taliban Authorities and Pakistani Forces Claim Multiple Deaths in Recent Border Clashes Pakistani Military and Afghan Government Accuse One Another of Initiating Attacks in the Afghan Border District of Spin Boldak Fresh hostilities erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier early on Wednesday, with each side accusing the other of starting deadly clashes. The Pakistani armed forces announced that its forces had killed "15-20 Taliban fighters" and injured many in the Spin Boldak frontier area. A Afghan authorities representative claimed that twelve non-combatants had been killed and over a hundred injured by Pakistani firing. He added that numerous military personnel had been killed. Not one of the alleged deaths could be independently confirmed. Violence between the neighbouring countries has escalated since explosions rocked Afghanistan last week, which the Afghan capital attributed on Islamabad. The Taliban deny allegations that it is harboring militants aiming at Pakistan. Online Platforms and Military Confrontations The two sides are not only battling for the upper hand on the frontier, but also on social media, trying to convince the public that their faction is causing greater losses. The most recent fighting follow severe border hostilities over the weekend, when the Afghan forces claimed to have killed 58 members of the Pakistani military and Pakistan reported it neutralized 200 "militants and linked terrorists". The claimed casualty figures announced by each side could not be confirmed by external sources. A few days of unstable calm that had lasted since the recent days were shattered on Wednesday morning. On-the-Ground Accounts and Consequences Videos allegedly of the fighting and its aftereffects have been circulated online and on social channels, including images said to be of those deceased and blurry shots from low-light cameras claiming to be of check posts destroyed. These recordings have not been verified. A informant in Spin Boldak in Afghanistan stated that fighting broke out at around 04:00 local time (23:30 GMT on Tuesday). Another local in the district, who lives about one kilometre away from the frontier post, reported that "intense hostilities continued for almost five hours". "We observed unmanned aircraft and fighter planes flying over us, some of our family members are wounded," they added. A doctor in one of the hospitals in Spin Boldak stated that he counted "seven fatalities and thirty-six injured brought to the hospital", including males, women and minors. The circumstances were "tense" and more casualties were being transferred to medical care, he said. Displacement and International Responses A regional authority figure in Spin Boldak stated that "hundreds of families have been displaced since the previous evening due to the intense fighting". He said they were on "high alert" after a several military positions were attacked by aircraft from Pakistan. He further indicated that they had the remains of 2 armed forces members. In a distinct night-time engagement on the western frontier, the Islamabad's forces said that 25 to 30 militant and Pakistani Taliban fighters were "believed" to have been killed. The clashes have prompted appeals for de-escalation from other countries including China and Russia, as well as a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that he could step in to facilitate peace. On Wednesday, a UN official, UN special rapporteur on the conditions of civil liberties in Afghanistan, posted on a social media platform that he was "deeply concerned" by accounts of non-combatant deaths and displacement because of the clashes. "I urge everyone involved to practice maximum restraint, safeguard civilians, and abide by international law," he wrote. Long-Standing Tensions Islamabad has long accused the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistani militants to function from their land and battle against the Pakistani administration in an attempt to enforce a rigid Islamic-led system of rule. The Taliban leadership has always denied these allegations.