Pakistan says it killed 67 Afghan force members

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 neighbours 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 recent days, Kabul has also said that its forces inflicted significant losses on Pakistan's military.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said that 42 civilians have been killed and 104 wounded in "indirect fire in cross-border clashes" between February 26 and March 2, based on "preliminary" figures.

Tarar refuted the figure, saying militants wear "civilian attire" and that the Kabul-based UN agency relied on Taliban authorities for information.

"Pakistan has been precise in targeting terrorists and their supporters, including Afghan Taliban military installations that support terrorists," he 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 organisations, 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.