Pakistan says it killed 67 Afghan security force members in fifth day of fighting

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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan's ground forces attacked Pakistan's military positions at 16 locations along the southwestern border early Tuesday and fired on multiple points in the northwest, triggering intense clashes in which 67 Afghan security force members and one Pakistani soldier were killed, as fighting between the two neighbors entered its fifth consecutive day, officials said.

Pakistan “successfully repelled these multiple attacks" along the Afghan border, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.

Afghan forces carried out ground assaults in 16 locations in the southwestern districts of Qilla Saifullah, Nushki and Chaman in Balochistan province, Tarar said on X. In retaliatory attacks, Pakistan killed 27 members of Afghan forces, he said.

Tarar said that Afghan forces also launched attacks at 25 locations in the border regions of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Pakistani troops killed 40 Afghan security force members.

There was no immediate comment from Kabul on the Pakistani figures.

However, Pakistan and Afghanistan have both repeatedly claimed to inflicted heavy losses on the other side since Thursday, when Afghanistan launched attacks in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday. Since then, Pakistan has carried out operations along the border, with Tarar on Monday, saying that 435 Afghan security force members were killed and that 31 positions have been captured in the fighting.

In Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry kas repeatedly assured the world, including neighboring countries, that it won't allow Afghan territory to be used against other nations. The ministry' spokesman, Enayatullah Khawarazmi, said that "I repeat once again that we will not allow any person or group to use our territory against other countries.”

Khawarazmi said in a statement that Afghan forces had also responded to Pakistan's attacks in the past 24 hours, destroying about a dozen posts and killing four Pakistani soldiers. He said that so far, 28 Afghan soldiers have died and 42 others have been wounded in the fighting.

Meanwhile, Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, accused Pakistan of violating Afghan airspace and targeting public areas, including homes, mosques, madrasas and public facilities in Kabul, Laghman, Nangarhar, Paktia, Kandahar, and Kunar provinces, apart from targeting refugee camps.

He said that these attacks have resulted in the death of 110 civilians, including 65 women and children.

“The Islamic Emirate considers the protection of the people and the defense of the system as its legitimate right, and will fight against the enemy with this legitimate right until this aggression stopped,” he said.

Meanwhile, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan called for an immediate halt to the fighting, warning that the conflict is worsening the country’s already dire humanitarian situation. In a statement, it said that since Feb. 26, at least 146 civilians have been affected by the violence, with 42 killed and 104 injured, including women and children. The figures are preliminary, it said.

The latest announcement about the killing of Afghan forces came a day after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari defended the ongoing strikes in Afghanistan, saying Islamabad had tried all forms of diplomacy before targeting militants operating from Afghan territory. He asked Kabul to disarm groups responsible for attacks in Pakistan.

Pakistan has described its operations as an “open war ” with Afghanistan, alarming the international community. The border area remains a stronghold for militant organizations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Pakistan has experienced a surge in violence in recent months, which it attributes to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which operates inside Pakistan and from Afghan territory. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe havens for the TTP, which Kabul denies.

The latest cross-border fighting ended a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October. Talks in Istanbul failed to produce a permanent agreement, and Pakistani authorities have said that operations will continue until Afghanistan’s Taliban government takes practical, verifiable steps to rein in the TTP and other militants behind violence in Pakistan.

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Abdul Qahar Afghan reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Riaz Khan contributed to this report from Peshawar.