The Pakistani military says soldiers and militants have died in clashes near the Afghan border, as diplomats from both countries meet to prevent violence from erupting again after the worst fighting in years.
Five Pakistani soldiers and 25 militants from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) extremist group were killed overnight on October 25, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement sent to the media on October 26.
ISPR added that the clashes occurred when militants tried to enter the country’s Kurram and North Waziristan districts along the northwestern border with Afghanistan.
While the Taliban has not yet commented on the situation, ISPR said the infiltrations into Pakistani territory raised questions about the Taliban government’s intentions to tackle terrorism originating from its soil.
Afghan-Pakistani Peace Talks
Pakistani and Afghan delegations met in Istanbul on October 25, the same day new clashes were reported, to enforce a cease-fire between the two countries mediated by Qatar and Turkey in Doha last week.
The recent violence between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been the worst since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. Air strikes and ground clashes left dozens of people dead on both sides.
The fighting between the one-time allies was triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.
The Taliban denied harboring militants to attack Pakistan and accused the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering Islamic State-linked militants.
Speaking in a televised address on October 25, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said he believed Afghanistan is seeking peace but warned that failure to reach an agreement during the talks in Turkey would result in “open war.”
Visiting Malaysia for the signing of a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia, US President Donald Trump said he might “soon” get involved in the resolution of the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“I heard that Pakistan and Afghanistan have started up, but I’ll get that solved very quickly,” Trump added, giving no further information.
