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Taliban, Pakistani forces trade fire across Afghan border as tensions rise between nations

Taliban, Pakistani forces trade fire across Afghan border as tensions rise between nations
By Arooj Fatima, Huzaifa Qamar and Usaid Siddiqui
Published On 12 Oct 2025

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12 Oct 2025 - 16:45
 (16:45 GMT)

It’s a wrap from us

Thank you for joining our live coverage of the border clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces.

To read our story on the overnight fighting, go here.

Read our explainer on the clashes, including in-depth analysis, here.

12 Oct 2025 - 16:30
 (16:30 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We will be closing this live page soon, but before we do, here is a recap of the day’s major developments:

  • Pakistan’s military says it has killed more than 200 Taliban and other fighters in overnight border clashes, adding that 23 of its soldiers were killed and 20 were injured.
  • It added that its forces carried out “infrastructural damages to Taliban posts, camps, headquarters and support networks”.
  • Afghanistan claims it killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in the fighting.
  • Afghani Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi says Kabul “achieved our military objectives last night” and that its military has “paused [the fighting] from our side for the time being”.
  • Qatar and Saudi Arabia have expressed deep concern over the recent escalation and tensions along the border, calling for “restraint” and the need to de-escalate.
  • Iran said it was ready to assist in easing tensions between the two countries.
12 Oct 2025 - 16:15
 (16:15 GMT)

Pakistan’s president says ‘no compromise on national sovereignty’

President Asif Ali Zardari says Pakistan remains “committed” to safeguarding its national interests, regional sovereignty and security as he calls on Afghanistan to take “concrete and verifiable action” against what he describes as “anti-Pakistan terrorist elements operating” from Afghan soil.

In a statement, Zardari said Pakistan will continue to support the educational and humanitarian needs of the Afghan people but stressed: “No compromise will ever be made on Pakistan’s national sovereignty.”

12 Oct 2025 - 16:00
 (16:00 GMT)

Fragile thaw between Kabul and Islamabad

By Abid Hussain

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan

Tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban in recent years have also escalated into military clashes.

The Pakistani military has previously conducted air strikes inside Afghan territory, the most recent one in December 2024.

However, after a bloody 2024, one of Pakistan’s deadliest years in nearly a decade, with more than 2,500 people killed in violence, Islamabad and Kabul tried to reset their relationship.

In April, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar visited Kabul, with senior leadership on both sides holding a series of meetings, often mediated by China. That process led to upgraded diplomatic ties and a brief lull in violence over the summer.

12 Oct 2025 - 15:45
 (15:45 GMT)
Infographic

Where did the cross-border clashes take place?

Pakistan’s army says it has killed more than 200 fighters with the Taliban and their allies while Afghanistan says it has killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in the cross-border clashes.

12 Oct 2025 - 15:30
 (15:30 GMT)

Photos: People wait for border to reopen

A man walks past parked trucks with belongings of Afghan citizens returning to their country, after Pakistan closed border crossings with Afghanistan, in Chaman, Balochistan, Pakistan [Saeed Ali Achakzai/Reuters]
Trucks stand at the Torkham border crossing [Shahid Shinwari/Reuters]
A man sits next to the trucks parked at the Torkham border crossing [Shahid Shinwari/Reuters]

12 Oct 2025 - 15:15
 (15:15 GMT)

WATCH: Taliban, Pakistani forces exchange heavy fire across border

Deadly clashes erupted overnight between the Taliban and Pakistani forces across the border.

Watch the video below:

12 Oct 2025 - 15:00
 (15:00 GMT)
Analysis

Priority for Islamabad, Kabul is to ‘de-escalate’

Analyst Ibraheem Bahiss says both Pakistan and Afghanistan are seeking to avoid a broader conflict along the border.

“I feel that the priority for both Islamabad and Kabul is to de-escalate. Neither side wants major escalation on their frontiers as they are already grappling with several issues,” Bahiss, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.

“The Afghan Taliban will want to avoid this because of the disparity in the firepower available to the two sides, which would be a big factor for Kabul to not pursue escalation.”

Bahiss pointed out the Taliban’s limited retaliation was meant to “reassure their domestic audience”.

“I think they have done what they wanted to do, … showing that they are in control of the situation and can avenge any strikes inside their territory.”

12 Oct 2025 - 14:45
 (14:45 GMT)

What happened in Kabul on Thursday night?

The Taliban blames Pakistan for an explosion in Kabul and another in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika on Thursday.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the explosion in Kabul, saying the cause was under investigation, but at the time downplayed its severity. He did not ascribe any blame.

On Friday, the Afghan Defence Ministry blamed Pakistan for the Kabul and Paktika blasts without sharing any details.

The incident came amid plummeting relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has accused the Taliban government – in power since August 2021 – of providing a haven to armed groups, particularly the Pakistan Taliban, which Islamabad blames for a surge in attacks on its security forces.

12 Oct 2025 - 14:30
 (14:30 GMT)
Analysis

Afghan official’s India visit may have influenced Pakistan: Analyst

Ibraheem Bahiss, a Kabul-based senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the clashes were “primarily driven by what was happening inside Pakistan in recent days”.

“Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had ratcheted up its attacks against Pakistani military, leading to significant casualties of soldiers, including officer-ranked personnel, too,” he told Al Jazeera.

“That perhaps was the main motivator behind the air strikes [in Kabul] on Thursday in a much more escalatory manner.”

He said the timing of the strikes, coinciding with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Muttaqi’s visit to India, was not coincidental.

“With Muttaqi’s visit to India, and for strikes to happen at the same time, when the Afghan official received such a red-carpet welcome … I do think that that it was probably a factor in the ultimate decision that was made by the Pakistan army to escalate in the major way that we saw,” he added.

Pakistan has yet to confirm or deny that it carried out the strikes.

12 Oct 2025 - 14:15
 (14:15 GMT)

What is the TTP?

By Abid Hussain

Emerging in 2007 amid the US-led, so-called “war on terror”, the TTP has long waged an armed campaign against Pakistan.

The group wants to implement strict Islamic law, has demanded the release of its imprisoned members, and calls for a reversal of the merger of Pakistan’s tribal areas with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The Pakistani government insists the TTP – which is distinct from the Afghan Taliban but ideologically aligned in many respects – operates from Afghan territory.

It blames Kabul for allowing sanctuary and has repeatedly described the group using the Arabic-derived term “khwarij”, a historical epithet for an extremist sect that branded other Muslims as “apostates”.

Kabul, however, has repeatedly rejected these allegations. Last month, Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban government, warned against “provocative” statements and urged cooperation.

12 Oct 2025 - 14:00
 (14:00 GMT)
Analysis

No ‘end to the TTP while the idea of the Taliban exists’

By Abid Hussain

Earlier this year, Iftikhar Firdous, cofounder of The Khorasan Diary, a portal that tracks regional security developments, said, “There has been no overarching commitment by the Afghan Taliban to act against the TTP in Afghanistan.”

“This is likely to never happen,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the Taliban is a “grey entity in a world that no longer differentiates between black and white”.

“I don’t see any end to the TTP while the idea of the Taliban exists. Pakistan’s failed calculus to have a controlled Taliban government in Afghanistan has had detrimental consequences, and the next biggest mistake would be to expect that its internal security challenges will disappear by negotiating with the Taliban.”

12 Oct 2025 - 13:45
 (13:45 GMT)

What has been the international response?

  • Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on his country’s two neighbours “to exercise restraint”.
  • Qatar’s Foreign Ministry also urged “both sides to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy, exercise restraint, and work to contain the disputes in a way that helps reduce tension, avoids escalation, and contributes to regional peace and stability”.
  • Expressing concern, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The kingdom calls for restraint, avoiding escalation, and embracing dialogue and wisdom to contribute to reducing tensions and maintaining security and stability in the region.”

India, which is currently hosting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on his first visit there, has yet to comment on the border clashes. Islamabad has viewed New Delhi’s engagement with the Taliban with suspicion.

12 Oct 2025 - 13:30
 (13:30 GMT)
Analysis

Could these clashes escalate?

Asif Durrani, a former Pakistani ambassador and special representative to Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera he believes “the chances of this clash [spilling over] to something bigger and more serious [are] minimal”.

“Afghanistan does not have any conventional military capacity when compared to Pakistan,” Durrani said, adding, “Guerrilla warfare is not the same as conventional warfare, which is a whole different beast and something where Pakistan is considerably ahead of Afghanistan.”

Underlining that “diplomacy should always be given a chance, regardless of how dire the situation is,” Durrani noted that the TTP remains the central issue in the countries’ fraught relations.

“The Afghan government refuses to acknowledge their [the TTP’s] existence on their soil, and as long as that irritant remains present, the situation will remain tense,” he added.

12 Oct 2025 - 13:15
 (13:15 GMT)
Analysis

Rise in border violence linked to ‘surge’ in attacks on Pakistani soldiers

By Abid Hussain

Pakistani political analyst Mehmood Jan Babar says the clashes were ignited by a “surge” in attacks on Pakistani soldiers in the past several weeks.

“The message was to clearly show that if Afghan Taliban won’t control the elements on their soil, Pakistan will strike inside the Afghan territory,” he told Al Jazeera.

According to Babar, “TTP has enough support within the ranks of Afghan Taliban.”

“That is also why the government often chooses to look the other way when TTP carries out its activities inside Pakistan,” he said.

Moreover, he said, both countries had a “similar set of friends”, such as China and other Muslim nations that would not want the fighting to escalate.

12 Oct 2025 - 13:00
 (13:00 GMT)

If you’re just joining us

Let’s get you up to speed with the latest developments:

  • Pakistan’s military says 23 of its soldiers have been killed and 20 injured in overnight clashes on the border with Afghanistan.
  • It adds that 200 Taliban and allied fighters have also been killed.
  • Afghanistan says it has killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in the fighting.
  • Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi says Kabul “achieved our military objectives last night” and it has “paused [the fighting] from our side for the time being”.
  • Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s foreign minister, says he expects the “Taliban government to take concrete measures against terrorist elements and their perpetrators that wish to derail Pak-Afghan relations”.
12 Oct 2025 - 12:45
 (12:45 GMT)

Afghan foreign minister says Kabul ‘pauses’ fighting for now

When asked about the border fighting with Pakistan, Muttaqi says Kabul “achieved our military objectives last night”.

“Our friends, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have expressed that this conflict should come to an end, so we have paused it from our side for the time being,” he said at a news conference in New Delhi, ANI news agency reported.

“The people of Pakistan, in the majority, are peace-loving and want good relations with Afghanistan. We have no issues with Pakistani civilians.

“When someone tries to interfere in our internal matters, all civilians, government heads, ulemas [religious scholars] and all religious leaders come together to fight in the interests of the country.

“If Pakistan doesn’t want good relations and peace, then Afghanistan has other options as well.”

12 Oct 2025 - 12:30
 (12:30 GMT)
Explainer

What triggered the clashes?

By Yashraj Sharma

On Thursday, Kabul was rocked by two explosions, and another took place in a market in the border province of Paktika.

The Taliban government accused Pakistan of violating Afghanistan’s “sovereign territory”. Islamabad did not outright deny the blasts but asked the Taliban to curb the activities of the Pakistan Taliban.

A Pakistani security official told Reuters air strikes were carried out and their intended target in Kabul was the leader of the TTP, who was travelling in a vehicle. Al Jazeera could not independently verify if the leader, Noor Wali Mehsud, had survived.

Pakistan and the Taliban, once allies over shared security interests, have grown increasingly hostile over Islamabad’s claim that the Taliban is giving refuge to the TTP, an armed group accused of carrying out years of attacks inside Pakistan.

At least 2,414 deaths have been recorded in the first three quarters of this year, according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank.

12 Oct 2025 - 12:15
 (12:15 GMT)

Residents, army thwart Taliban attempt to cross border into Pakistan

A resident from Baramcha, in Chagai district of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, has told Al Jazeera that Taliban fighters approached a checkpoint in the area overnight in an attempt to enter Pakistan.

“They started firing and two residents were injured,” resident Umar Khan told Al Jazeera, adding that the Pakistan army then entered Afghanistan and took control of checkpoints in the area.

12 Oct 2025 - 12:00
 (12:00 GMT)

What is the Durand Line, a sticking point between Afghanistan, Pakistan?

The Durand Line is the 1893 British-mandated border between the two countries. It is recognised by Pakistan but not by Afghanistan.

Afghanistan maintains activity by either side along the Durand Line must be approved by both countries.

The line runs through the mountainous tribal belt between what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. The border has been a contentious issue between the two countries for decades.

In February 2024, Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai said: “We will never recognise it [the Durand Line].”

“Today, half of Afghanistan is separated and is on the other side of the Durand Line,” he said.

The Taliban government has referred to it as a “hypothetical line”.