Pakistan repels Afghan Taliban attack along Balochistan border; 15–20 killed

• ISPR says multiple coordinated attacks launched in Spin Boldak area repelled effectively
• Around 15–20 Afghan Taliban fighters killed, several others injured in retaliatory fire
• Afghan side destroys Friendship Gate, showing disregard for cross-border tribal ties
• Tensions escalate as border clashes mark third major confrontation in a week.

RAWALPINDI: Security forces on Wednesday repelled coordinated attacks by the Afghan Taliban along the Balochistan border, killing between 15 and 20 assailants, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, as cross-border hostilities between the two neighbours entered a dangerous new phase.

In a statement, the military’s media wing said that Afghan Taliban fighters launched “cowardly attacks” at four locations in the Spin Boldak area in the early hours of Wednesday, but the assaults were “effectively repulsed” by Pakistani troops.

The ISPR said that as troops responded, around 15–20 Afghan Taliban were killed and several others injured. “The situation is still developing. There are reports of further buildup at staging points of Fitna al-Khwarij and the Afghan Taliban,” it added, using the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

According to the statement, the attacks were “orchestrated through divided villages in the area, with no regard for [the] civil population,” while the Afghan Taliban “destroyed the Pak-Afghan Friendship Gate on their side,” displaying “their mindset regarding mutual trade and easement rights of divided tribes.”

Heavy losses in earlier Kurram clashes

The ISPR said the latest assault in Balochistan was separate from an earlier engagement along the Kurram border sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the night of October 14–15, when Afghan Taliban and “Fitna al-Khwarij” fighters attempted to storm Pakistani border posts.

“These attacks were effectively repulsed, causing heavy losses to Afghan posts. Eight posts, including six tanks, were destroyed in the effective yet proportionate response of Pakistani troops. Twenty-five to thirty Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khwarij fighters were suspected to have been killed,” the ISPR said.

Rejecting Kabul’s claims that Pakistan initiated the hostilities, the ISPR called such allegations “outrageous and blatant lies,” saying the Taliban regime’s propaganda could be “debunked with basic fact checks.”

It reaffirmed that Pakistan’s armed forces “stand resolute and fully prepared to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan” and that “all acts of aggression will be responded to with full force.”

Afghan version of events

Before the ISPR statement, Taliban government spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid posted on X that Afghan forces were “forced to retaliate” after alleged attacks by Pakistani troops in Spin Boldak, Kandahar.

He claimed that over a dozen civilians were killed and more than 100 injured in Pakistani attacks using “light and heavy weapons.” Mujahid further alleged heavy Pakistani losses, claiming that Afghan forces had captured posts and weapons — assertions Islamabad has dismissed as propaganda.

President, PM commend troops; accuse Kabul of violations

President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the cross-border attacks, calling them a “blatant violation” of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

“Attacks from Afghanistan are a blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty,” the president was quoted as saying in a PPP statement on X. He lauded the armed forces for their “courage and professional expertise” and accused the Taliban regime of “providing safe havens to Taliban terrorists,” thereby violating the 2020 Doha agreement, which barred Afghan soil from being used against other countries.

صدر آصف علی زرداری کی افغان سرزمین سے سرحد پار حملوں کی شدید مذمت

افغان علاقے سے حملے پاکستان کی خودمختاری کی کھلی خلاف ورزی ہیں: صدر زرداری

صدر نے مسلح افواج کی جرات اور پیشہ وارانہ مہارت کو خراجِ تحسین پیش کیا

افغان طالبان حکومت دوحہ معاہدے کی مسلسل خلاف ورزی کر رہی ہے: صدر…

— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) October 15, 2025

Zardari warned that such actions were “destabilising the entire region” and urged Kabul not to allow its territory to be used for terrorism or anti-Pakistan activity. “Any aggression against Pakistan will be met with a strong and unequivocal response,” he stressed.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a separate statement, paid tribute to security forces for “repelling the unprovoked aggression” in the Kurram sector.

He expressed concern over “incitement” by the Afghan Taliban, Fitna al-Khwarij, and Fitna al-Hindustan—the state’s term for militant organisations operating in Balochistan—and vowed that “national integrity will be defended at all costs.”

“The use of Afghan soil for incidents of terrorism in Pakistan is condemnable,” the prime minister said, reiterating Islamabad’s call for peaceful, cooperative ties with its neighbours but warning that “aggression will be met with a strong response.”

Mounting tension along the border

The latest clash marks the third major skirmish between Pakistan and Afghanistan within a week, following an overnight confrontation in Kurram on Tuesday and earlier fighting that began on Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning at several locations.

According to the ISPR, 23 Pakistani troops were martyred and 29 injured in the earlier incidents that began with cross-border attacks from the Afghan Taliban. The military said “credible intelligence and damage assessment” indicated that more than 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists were neutralised in Pakistan’s response.

Kabul had claimed those attacks were “retaliatory,” alleging that Pakistan had conducted air strikes inside Afghan territory last week—a claim Islamabad neither confirmed nor denied but reiterated its “right to self-defence.”

Relations at a low ebb

Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have sharply escalated amid repeated Pakistani accusations that the Afghan Taliban have allowed TTP and other militant groups to use Afghan soil for attacks on Pakistani territory—a charge Afghanistan denies.

Islamabad has for months urged the Taliban regime to rein in cross-border terrorism, warning that repeated violations could compel Pakistan to act decisively to protect its borders.

Observers say the recent surge in hostilities and the loss of Pakistani lives in counterterror operations have further strained ties that were already fraying since the Taliban takeover in 2021.