The Taliban claimed that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in overnight cross-border clashes on Thursday, describing the fighting as a “retaliatory operation” that comes nearly a week after Pakistan airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan.
Hamdullah Fitrat, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said the casualties occurred during what he described as Taliban attacks against Pakistani forces.
He claimed that the bodies of 23 Pakistani troops were now in Taliban custody and that several others had been captured.
Fitrat also asserted that Taliban forces had seized one military headquarters and 19 border outposts, while four additional posts had been “completely” set ablaze.
The claims could not be independently verified, and Pakistan’s military has not publicly confirmed the reported casualties or the loss of any installations.
The attacks have targeted Palistani military outposts near the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar, according to Taliban officials.
The latest clashes follow Pakistani airstrikes last weekend in eastern Afghanistan, including parts of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces. Taliban officials have said the strikes killed civilians and targeted residential areas, including a school in Paktika. Pakistan, however, has maintained that it struck hideouts of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, and the Islamic State’s Khorasan affiliate.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, at least 13 civilians were killed in airstrikes in Nangarhar, though casualty figures remain disputed.
Following Taliban’s attack, Taliban officials said Pakistani forces had launched an attack on the Omari camp in Torkham, a key border crossing point in Nangarhar. Local reports indicated that several people were wounded. The Taliban said evacuation of the camp was underway.
Relations between Taliban and Islamabad have deteriorated sharply in recent months, with Pakistan accusing the Taliban of failing to curb militant groups operating from Afghanistan’s territory. The Taliban have denied that armed groups are allowed to use Afghanistan to stage attacks abroad.
