🔗 Share this article Taliban Authorities and Pakistani Forces Claim Numerous Deaths in Recent Border Fighting Islamabad Military and Afghan Government Accuse One Another of Initiating Assaults in the Afghan Border District of Spin Boldak Fresh fighting erupted along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border early on Wednesday, with both parties blaming the other of starting deadly confrontations. Pakistan's military stated that its forces had killed "15-20 Afghan Taliban" and wounded numerous others in the Spin Boldak border district. A Afghan authorities spokesman claimed that 12 non-combatants had been fatally struck and over a hundred injured by Pakistani firing. He added that several Pakistani soldiers had been lost their lives. Not one of the reported fatalities could be verified by third parties. Hostilities between the neighbouring countries has escalated since explosions shook Afghanistan last week, which Kabul attributed on Pakistan. The Afghan leadership deny claims that it is sheltering armed groups aiming at Pakistan. Social Media and Military Confrontations The opposing forces are not only battling for the advantage on the border, but also on social media, attempting to persuade the general population that their faction is causing greater losses. The latest fighting follow intense cross-border hostilities over the weekend, when the Taliban asserted to have eliminated 58 members of the Islamabad's armed forces and Pakistan reported it killed two hundred "Taliban and affiliated insurgents". The reported death tolls provided by each side could not be independently verified. Several days of fragile calm that had lasted since the weekend were broken on Wednesday. Local Reports and Impact Footage purportedly of the conflict and its aftereffects have been circulated online and on social channels, including images said to be of those killed and blurry shots from low-light cameras purporting to be of guard positions demolished. These recordings have not been verified. A source in Spin Boldak in Afghanistan reported that clashes broke out at around 4 a.m. local time (23:30 GMT on Tuesday). Another local in the district, who lives about a short distance away from the frontier post, reported that "intense clashes continued for almost several hours". "We observed unmanned aircraft and fighter planes soaring over us, some of our relatives are injured," they said. A medical professional in one of the medical facilities in the region reported that he tallied "seven fatalities and 36 injured brought to the medical center", including men, women and children. The situation were "tense" and additional casualties were being transferred to medical care, he said. Displacement and Global Reactions A regional Taliban official in the area stated that "hundreds of households have been forced to flee since last night due to the intense fighting". He said they were on "high alert" after a few Taliban posts were targeted by aircraft from Pakistan. He further indicated that they had the remains of two Pakistani military members. In a distinct night-time engagement on the western border, the Pakistani military claimed that twenty-five to thirty Taliban and Pakistani Taliban fighters were "suspected" to have been eliminated. The hostilities have prompted calls for de-escalation from other countries including Beijing and Russia, as well as a proposal from US President Donald Trump that he could step in to broker peace. On that day, a UN official, United Nations representative on the conditions of human rights in Afghanistan, posted on a social media platform that he was "deeply concerned" by reports of civilian casualties and displacement because of the clashes. "I urge all parties to practice maximum restraint, protect civilians, and abide by international law," he wrote. Long-Standing Disputes Islamabad has for years accused the Taliban authorities of allowing the Pakistani militants to function from their territory and battle against the Islamabad government in an effort to impose a strict Islamic-led system of governance. The Afghan Taliban government has always denied these allegations.