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KABUL: Afghanistan said Sunday it killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in overnight border operations, in response to what it called repeated violations of its territory and airspace.
Earlier in the week, Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of bombing the capital, Kabul, and a market in the country’s east. Pakistan did not claim responsibility for the assault.
The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Afghan forces have captured 25 Pakistani army posts, 58 soldiers have been killed, and 30 others wounded.
“The situation on all official borders and de facto lines of Afghanistan is under complete control, and illegal activities have been largely prevented,” Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul. There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan about casualties.
Pakistan has previously struck locations inside Afghanistan, targeting what it alleges are militant hideouts, but these have been in remote and mountainous areas.
The two sides have also skirmished along the border. But Saturday night's heavy clashes underscore the deepening security tensions.
The Taliban government’s Defense Ministry said early Sunday morning its forces had conducted “retaliatory and successful operations” along the border.
“If the opposing side again violates Afghanistan’s territorial integrity, our armed forces are fully prepared to defend the nation’s borders and will deliver a strong response,” the ministry added.
The Torkham border crossing, one of two main trade routes between the two countries, did not open on Sunday at its usual time of 8 am. The crossing at Chaman was also closed.
Pakistan accuses Afghan authorities of harboring members of the banned group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Islamabad says the group carries out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, but Kabul denies the charge, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.
Before the Afghan claim of casualties, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the assault and said the country's army “not only gave a befitting reply to Afghanistan’s provocations but also destroyed several of their posts, forcing them to retreat.”
The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Saturday, calling for “restraint, avoidance of escalation and the adoption of dialogue and wisdom to help de-escalate tensions and maintain the security and stability of the region.”
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A senior Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said Afghan forces opened fire in several northwestern border areas in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the districts of Chitral, Bajaur, Mohmand, Angoor Adda and Kurram.
The official also said troops responded with heavy weaponry near Tirah in Khyber district and across the frontier in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer border known as the Durand Line, but Afghanistan has never recognized it.

BEIRUT: The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said Sunday that one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country’s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been working with the Lebanese army to support a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah that culminated in two months of open war.
“Just before noon yesterday, an Israeli drone dropped a grenade that exploded near a UNIFIL position” in Kfar Kela, the force said in a statement published on Sunday.
“One peacekeeper was lightly injured and received medical assistance.”
Earlier this month, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped multiple grenades near peacekeepers providing security for workers clearing rubble left over from the war.
And in a similar episode in September, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped four grenades near peacekeepers, with Israel insisting at the time that there had been “no intentional fire” directed at the force.
UNIFIL said Saturday’s incident represented “another serious violation of resolution 1701 and concerning disregard for the safety of peacekeepers.”
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November ceasefire.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel were both required to withdraw from south Lebanon, while UNIFIL deployed there alongside the Lebanese military, in part to help dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israel has kept up regular strikes in Lebanon on what it says are Hezbollah targets despite the truce, and has maintained its troops in five locations it deems strategic.
“We again call on the (Israeli army) to cease attacks on or near peacekeepers, who are working to rebuild the stability that both Israel and Lebanon have committed to restore,” the UN peacekeeping force said.
UNIFIL has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon, and numbers some 10,000 personnel from almost 50 countries.
In August, the Security Council voted to end UNIFIL’s mission in 2027.