هجوم مسلح يردي 6 جنود باكستانيين قرب حدود أفغانستان

Six Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack carried out by militants today (Tuesday) on a security checkpoint in the northwest of the country near the border with Afghanistan. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Fragile Ceasefire

The attack in the Kurram area comes at a time when both countries are trying to maintain a fragile ceasefire after border clashes resulted in dozens of casualties last October, described as the worst fighting between the two neighbors since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.

Islamabad blames the rise in violence in the country on militants using Afghan territory to plan their attacks on security forces across the border, but Kabul denies the validity of these accusations, stating that Pakistan's security is an internal issue.

Intermittent border skirmishes occur between Kabul and Islamabad, which were allies in the past, including heavy gunfire that took place on Friday, resulting in at least five casualties.

Militants from the Pakistani Taliban, who have been waging a war against the state for nearly 20 years, are active in the mountainous border areas. The Taliban in Afghanistan asserts that there is no operational relationship between them.

Alert and Gunfire

For his part, the spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, announced that Pakistani forces launched attacks in the Spin Boldak area of Kandahar province, while a spokesperson for the Pakistani Prime Minister accused Afghan forces of "unjustified gunfire" along the Chaman border area.

The spokesperson for the Pakistani government, Musharraf Zaidi, stated in a statement that his country "remains in a state of full alert and is committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of its citizens."

Islamabad claims that militants based in Afghanistan have carried out recent attacks in Pakistan, including suicide bombings involving Afghan nationals. Kabul denies this accusation, asserting that it does not bear responsibility for security within Pakistan.

It is worth noting that the two countries signed an agreement in Doha to stop clashes, but peace talks in Turkey collapsed without reaching a long-term agreement due to a dispute over anti-Pakistan militant groups operating within Afghanistan.