Particle.news
Download on the App Store
87 ARTICLES
·
7h ago

Pakistan–Afghanistan Border Flare-Up Pauses as Crossings Close and Claims Clash

Regional appeals for restraint yield a fragile pause with crossings still closed.

Smoke rises from a hillside following overnight clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the border in the Zazai Maidan district of Khost province, Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir)
Trucks stand parked at the Torkham border crossing, after Pakistan closed border crossings with Afghanistan, following exchanges of fire between the forces of the two countries, in Torkham, Pakistan, October 12, 2025. REUTERS/Shahid Shinwari
Afghan servicemen guard along the border in the Zazai Maidan district of Khost province, Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, after overnight clashes with Pakistan's forces. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir)
Afghan refugees sit next to their belongings loaded onto vehicles as they wait for the reopening of the border crossing point, which closed after Afghan and Pakistani security forces exchanged fire, at a camp in Chaman, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo)

Overview

  • Officials reported no new exchanges of fire since Sunday after deadly clashes along multiple points of the Durand Line.
  • Key trade routes at Torkham and Chaman remain shut on a second day, with authorities briefly allowing some Afghans to walk back through Chaman and hundreds left stranded.
  • Pakistan says 23 soldiers were killed and claims its forces killed more than 200 Taliban and allied fighters, while Afghan officials assert they killed 58 Pakistani troops, figures that could not be independently verified.
  • Islamabad warns of a "befitting" response to any new provocations and cites UN monitoring reports to press Kabul on militant sanctuaries, which the Taliban government denies.
  • Qatar and Saudi Arabia urged de-escalation, UNHCR called for calm, and the latest flare-up followed reported but unacknowledged Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan on October 9 that Kabul condemned as violations of sovereignty.