Multiple Afghan Taliban Personnel Killed as Pakistan Foils Border Incursion in Balochistan

QUETTA (Terror Monitor) — Multiple Afghan Taliban personnel were killed after Pakistani security forces foiled an alleged attempt to enter Pakistani territory and carry out an attack in the Gulistan sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Balochistan, Pakistani security sources said on Thursday.

According to Pakistan’s state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) and Radio Pakistan, the attempted incursion took place in the Gulistan sector of Qila Abdullah district. Pakistani security forces responded with what officials described as timely and effective retaliatory action, killing several Afghan Taliban personnel.

Intermittent firing between Pakistani security forces and Afghan Taliban personnel was continuing in the area, according to the Pakistani reports. Security forces were placed on high alert and were maintaining heightened surveillance along the border.

The reported clashes have not been independently verified, and neither Pakistan’s military media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), nor the Afghan Taliban government had issued a detailed official statement on the incident at the time of publication.

Babar Yousafzai, an adviser for media to Balochistan’s Home Department, said any attempt to infiltrate Qila Abdullah from Afghanistan would receive a strong response.

He said Pakistan would not tolerate any violation of its territorial sovereignty and woustile action from Afghanistan according to its defensive capabilities.

Escalation follows Pakistani strikes inside Afghanistan

The reported border confrontation comes amid a sharp escalation in Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions following a series of alleged drone incursions and Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Pakistan said its air force and drones had carried out precision strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan that were being used to launch and store drones. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the targets were military facilities directly linked to attempted attacks against Pakistan.

Reuters reported that the strikes followed Pakistan’s accusation that drones launched from Afghanistan had entered its airspace a day earlier. Pakistan said its air-defense systems detected, tracked and neutralized the drones before they reached their intended targets.

Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Pakistani strikes killed four Afghan civilians in Kandahar, Paktia and Khost. He condemned the attacks and said Afghanistan would give an appropriate response.

The Associated Press also reported that the Pakistani strikes hit 10 sites in Afghanistan and described the latest developments as a sharp escalation in fighting between the two neighbors.

Earlier airstrikes and cross-border accusations

The latest confrontation follows Pakistani airstrikes on September 21 against targets in Afghanistan. Pakistan said the strikes killed 28 terrorists, including suicide bombers, while Afghan authorities reported civilian casualties.

Reuters reported that Pakistan said the September 21 strikes targeted terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan’s Paktika and Kunar provinces. Afghan Taliban officials and the United Nations reported that three civilians, including a woman and a girl, were killed.

The Associated Press likewise reported that Pakistan described the targets as suspected terrorist hideouts, while Afghan authorities said three civilians were killed and four others wounded.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of allowing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups to operate from Afghan territory. Kabul denies the accusations and has rejected Pakistan’s claims that Afghan territory is being used to conduct attacks against Pakistan.

The latest fighting in Gulistan adds another flashpoint to an already deteriorating security situation along the two countries’ long and heavily militarized border.