Afghanistan’s government on Sunday said dozens of Pakistani troops and nine Afghan soldiers were killed in a night of heavy border clashes between the two countries.

Afghanistan’s Taliban forces launched attacks on Pakistani soldiers along their shared border late Saturday, in what it called “retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul” on Thursday night.

Islamabad has not directly claimed the strikes, but has repeatedly stated the right to defend itself against surging militancy that it says is planned from Afghan soil.

Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, the two sides have repeatedly clashed in border regions, but airspace violations deep into Afghan territory would mark a significant escalation.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban governme

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