23 Afghan Taliban soldiers killed over ceasefire violation at Chaman border

• Heavy weapons used as Pakistan targets Taliban posts at border.
• Pakistan destroys 3 Taliban posts after unprovoked Chaman firing.
• Afghan Taliban raises white flags after suffering heavy casualties.
  

In a strong response to a ceasefire violation, security forces destroyed three Afghan Taliban regime posts at the Chaman border on Friday and Saturday, killing at least 23 Afghan soldiers, The News reported on Sunday citing well-placed sources.

Around midnight, the Taliban regime soldiers violated the ceasefire and initiated an unprovoked small arms fire along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman Sector, Balochistan. 

Pakistan’s security forces responded immediately, initially with small arms, precisely targeting Afghan Taliban posts from where fire was initiated in violation of international law without any plausible reason.

The engagement continued intermittently for 45 minutes, the local sources confirmed.

To deter the Afghan Taliban soldiers from escalation and to knock sense back, Pakistan security forces employed heavy weapons, including rocket launchers, mortars and heavier direct firing weapons, which resulted in complete destruction of three posts.

“Precision weapons were used to avoid any collateral damage to the innocent Afghan population,” the sources said. More than two dozen casualties of Afghan soldiers were reported.

Afghan soldiers left their posts and ran away in the rear to use civilian areas for another round of small arms fire, which was responded to with another round of heavy weapons, including the use of armed swarm drones, leaving more than two dozen Afghan Taliban soldiers confirmed dead, with multiple injuries also recorded.

On facing substantial losses, Taliban forces raised white flags, besides announcements of a ceasefire. Pakistan security forces allowed the Afghan Taliban to commence the casualty evacuation procedure (including both dead and injured), under surveillance. Damage assessment missions revealed at least 23 confirmed dead and multiple injuries.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for Foreign Media, Mosharraf Zaidi, said that Afghan forces carried out “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border.

“Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid alleged that Pakistani forces launched attacks in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province. His deputy, Hamdullah Fitra, told Reuters that shelling by Pakistan killed five people, including a Taliban member.

Pak-Aghan tensions

Pakistan closed the Torkham and Chaman borders with Afghanistan on October 12 after the Afghan Taliban, in association with their affiliated militants, attacked multiple Pakistan Armed Forces posts along the border.

The border clashes between forces from the two countries began on the night between October 11 and 12 after the Afghan Taliban and militants launched unprovoked attacks against Pakistan’s border posts.

The resulting clashes led to the killing of over 200 Taliban and affiliated militants, while 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred defending the motherland.

Pakistan also conducted “precision strikes” deep inside Afghanistan, targeting terrorists in Kandahar province and Kabul. A temporary 48-hour ceasefire was announced on October 15 at Afghanistan’s request.

The two sides eventually reached an official ceasefire agreement on October 19 in Qatar in talks mediated by Doha and Turkiye.

Under the deal, terrorism from Afghanistan on Pakistani soil will stop immediately, with Islamabad and Kabul agreeing to establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries.

The two sides then held further talks in Turkiye, which collapsed after Pakistan refused to accept the Taliban delegation’s “illogical” arguments and refusal to address Islamabad’s concerns regarding cross-border terrorism.

However, mediators persuaded Pakistan to give the talks another chance, which ultimately resulted in an agreement to uphold the ceasefire.