Pakistan says it has killed 67 members of the Afghan security forces in the fifth day of fighting

Islamabad — Afghan ground forces early Tuesday attacked Pakistani army bases at 16 locations along the southwest border and opened fire at multiple locations in the northwest, sparking fierce clashes in which 67 Afghan security force members and one Pakistani soldier were killed, as fighting between the two neighbors entered its fifth day, officials said.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan had “successfully repulsed these multiple attacks” along the Afghan border.

Tarar X said that Afghan forces have carried out ground attacks in 16 locations in the southwestern districts of Qilla Saifullah, Nushki and Chaman in Balochistan province. He said Pakistan killed 27 Afghan troops in the retaliatory attack.

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

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

However, Pakistan and Afghanistan have repeatedly claimed that the other side has inflicted heavy casualties since Thursday, with Afghanistan launching strikes in retaliation for Pakistan’s airstrikes the previous Sunday. Since then, Pakistan has conducted operations along the border, Tarar said on Monday, killing 435 Afghan security forces members and capturing 31 positions in the fighting.

In Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense has repeatedly assured the world, including neighboring countries, that Afghan territory will not be allowed to be used against other nations. “I repeat again that we will not allow any individual or group to use our territory against other countries,” said ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khawarajmi.

In the last 24 hours, Afghan forces have responded to Pakistani attacks, destroying about a dozen posts and killing four Pakistani soldiers, Khawarazmi said in a statement. He said that 28 Afghan soldiers have been killed and 42 injured so far in the fighting.

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

He said 110 civilians, including 65 women and children, were killed in the attack.

“The Islamic Emirate considers the defense 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 stops,” he said.

Meanwhile, the UN mission in Afghanistan has called for an immediate end to the fighting, warning that the conflict will worsen the country’s already dire humanitarian situation. At least 146 civilians have been affected by the violence since February 26, including 42 dead and 104 injured, including women and children, the statement said. The figures are preliminary, it said.

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

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

Pakistan has experienced an uptick in violence in recent months, attributed to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, or the TTP, which operates inside Pakistan and from Afghan territory. Islamabad has accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe haven to the TTP, which Kabul denies.

The most recent cross-border fighting ended a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October. Pakistani officials have said talks in Istanbul have failed to produce a lasting deal and operations will continue until Afghanistan’s Taliban government takes practical, verifiable steps to rein in the TTP and other militants behind the violence in Pakistan.

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Abdul Kahar Afghan reports from Kabul, Afghanistan. Riaz Khan contributed to this report from Peshawar.