KABUL, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Pakistani and Afghan border forces clashed on Thursday night after the Taliban launched what it called retaliatory strikes on Pakistani installations, sharply escalating tensions after days of cross-border hostilities.
Afghan forces opened fire on posts in Pakistan's mountainous northwest, sparking more than two hours of fighting before Pakistani troops retaliated, Pakistani officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Both Islamabad and the Taliban administration said they had destroyed or seized opposing posts along the frontier, claims that Reuters could not independently verify.
Videos shared by Afghan security forces showed Humvees driving through dark, mountainous terrain at night, lit by flashes of gunfire. Sustained bursts of automatic fire could be heard in the background.
Separate footage released by Pakistani security sources appeared to show tracer rounds arcing across a similar barren, mountainous landscape, with sustained bursts of automatic fire echoing through the valleys.
Reuters was not immediately able to independently verify the location, timing or authenticity of the footage.
Pakistan was responding to "unprovoked fire" by Afghan forces at multiple locations along the border, the Information Ministry in Islamabad said in a post on X.
It said troops delivered an "immediate and effective response", inflicting casualties and destroying multiple posts and equipment, adding that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and citizens.
RETALIATION AFTER AIRSTRIKES
The clashes along the 2,600-km (1,615-mile) are the latest flare-up to threaten a fragile ceasefire following deadly clashes last October.
Earlier this week, the Taliban warned it would make an "appropriate and measured response" to airstrikes launched by Pakistan over the weekend on what Islamabad said were camps of militants from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State in Khorasan Province in eastern Afghanistan.
Islamabad says TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory and use it as a safe haven to plan attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.
"In response to repeated provocations, large-scale offensive operations have been launched against Pakistani military positions along the Durand Line," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X, adding in a separate statement that "specialized laser units" were operating at night.
Mujahid said about 40 Pakistani soldiers were killed in Kunar, while Pakistani security sources said 22 Taliban personnel were killed and several quadcopters shot down. Reuters could not independently verify either side’s claims.
He warned that if Pakistan attacked Kabul or major cities, Afghanistan would "target their key centres and important cities", saying the Taliban was not seeking to expand the fighting but would retaliate.
The Pakistani prime minister’s spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi told Reuters in a text message: "As of 2320 (1820 GMT) hrs not only were no Pakistani posts captured or damaged", but Pakistani forces had inflicted "heavy losses" across the border in response to what he described as "unprovoked Taliban aggression".
"All aggression will get the same response: immediate and effective," he added.
Pakistan said it was boosting security nationwide this week, placing forces on "high alert" and accelerating intelligence-based operations, arresting dozens of suspected militants, their handlers and facilitators, including Afghan nationals.
(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Sayed Hassib in Kabul, and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; writing by Ariba Shahid; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Andrew Heavens)
