Casualties reported as Pakistan and Afghanistan trade heavy fire along Durand Line
Pakistan said its response resulted in more than 70 Afghan forces killed, while Afghan officials claimed that at least 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the fighting.
Pakistani and Afghan authorities have reported casualties on both sides of the Durand Line after Afghanistan said it launched retaliatory strikes, while Pakistan described the actions as unprovoked and said it responded immediately, heightening tensions between the two South Asian neighbours.
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said late on Thursday that in response to "unprovoked" Afghan attacks, Pakistan launched "Operation Righteous Fury" that killed or wounded dozens of Afghan Taliban soldiers.
"A total of 72 Afghan Taliban combatants have been terminated, more than 120 have been injured. Sixteen Afghan Taliban posts have been destroyed and seven Afghan Taliban posts have been captured," he said.
Zaidi stated that a large ammunition depot, an Afghan Taliban battalion headquarters, and an Afghan Taliban sector headquarters were also destroyed.
"So far, more than 36 tanks, artillery guns and armoured personnel carriers have been destroyed," he added.
Two security personnel have lost their lives in the ongoing clashes, Dawn newspaper reported.
Afghan deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fiteat, meanwhile, said that Afghan forces killed 55 Pakistani soldiers and seized 23 bodies. Officials also claimed seizing Pakistani posts.
However, Zaidi said there were "no Pakistani posts captured or damaged", adding its forces "inflicted heavy losses" across the border in retaliation.
TRT World could not independently confirm reports of casualties on both sides of the border.
According to the latest reports, fighting is ongoing across various sectors along the Durand Line, a porous border between the two neighbours.
The latest clashes come after Pakistan said it carried out air strikes last week in Afghanistan, killing 70 "terrorists."
Afghan officials said dozens of civilians were killed and vowed retaliation.
TTP threat from Afghanistan
Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan denied that any civilians were killed in Sunday's strikes on Afghanistan and only "terrorist" hideouts were targeted.
"We exercised utmost caution to prevent any harm to civilians," Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andrabi said about the air strikes.
Soon after the border clashes, Pakistan's Foreign Office reported a phone call between Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Qatar's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi.
Whether the two officials discussed the latest border clashes between Pakistan and Afghan forces remains unclear.
There was no immediate statement from Doha about the phone call.
Pakistan has experienced a surge in terrorist incidents in recent months, much of it attributed to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP and banned Baloch terror groups.
Islamabad accuses TTP of operating from Afghanistan, a charge the Taliban-led administration in Kabul has repeatedly denied.