Pakistan says five soldiers and 25 fighters killed in Afghan border clashes

At least five Pakistani soldiers and 25 fighters have been killed in recent clashes near the Afghan border, according to the Pakistani army, despite Istanbul’s two nations holding peace talks.

The Taliban government accused the Taliban of failing to intervene against armed groups operating from Afghan territory when armed men made an attempted crossing from Afghanistan into Kurram and North Waziristan on Friday and Saturday.

The attempted infiltrations, according to the report, raised questions about Kabul’s commitment to tackling “terrorism emanating from its soil” on Sunday.

The Taliban government of Afghanistan has repeatedly refuted claims that it houses armed fighters and instead accuses Pakistan of violating Afghan sovereignty by using airstrikes.

On Saturday, delegations from both nations arrived in Istanbul, Turkiye, for talks aimed at preventing a full-fledged conflict. ceasefire-after-talks-in-doha”>Qatar and Turkiye agreed to a ceasefire in Doha days after the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021, putting an end to the most serious border fighting ever.

Difficulty and injuries were reported in the earlier violence this month.

“Open war” is a term.

Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the country’s defense minister, stated that the ceasefire is still in place and that Kabul appears to be interested in ending it, but warned that if Istanbul’s failure resulted in an “open war” for Islamabad.

The Pakistani military referred to those responsible for the weekend infiltrations as members of “Fitna al-Khwarij,” a term used to describe ideologically motivated armed organizations allegedly supported by foreign sponsors.

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, added another statement on Sunday, saying he would “solve the Afghanistan-Pakistan crisis very quickly,” claiming to have been informed about the ongoing discussions at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.

After more than 15 hours of discussions, the Taliban-controlled broadcaster RTA announced on Sunday that Kabul’s delegation in Turkiye had submitted a proposal calling for Pakistan to end cross-border strikes and halt any “anti-Afghan group” from using its territory.

A four-party monitoring mechanism to oversee the ceasefire and look into violations was also made available by the Afghan side.

Haji Najib, the deputy interior minister, leads the delegation in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s representatives have not been made known to the general public.