War breaks out between Pakistan and Afghanistan

 Dozens of fighters have been killed in border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Pakistan military said 23 of its soldiers were killed in the clashes on Saturday, while the Taliban said it lost nine.

Tensions have risen after Islamabad demanded the Taliban take action against militants who have stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operate from havens in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, which came to power in 2021, denies that Pakistani militants are present on its soil.

Each side said it inflicted far higher casualties on the other side, without providing evidence. Pakistan said it had killed more than 200 Afghan Taliban and allied fighters, while Afghanistan said that it had killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.

According to Pakistani security officials, Pakistan carried out air strikes on Kabul and on a marketplace in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, which triggered retaliatory attacks by the Taliban. Pakistan has not officially acknowledged the air strikes.

Afghan troops opened fire on Pakistani border posts late on Saturday, with Pakistan responding with gun and artillery fire.

Each nation claimed to have destroyed the other side’s border posts. Pakistani security officials shared video footage, which they said showed Afghan posts being hit.

The exchanges were mostly over by Sunday morning, Pakistani security officials said. But in Pakistan’s Kurram area, intermittent gunfire continued, according to officials and residents there.

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Afghanistan’s ministry of defence previously said that its operation finished at midnight local time.

Kabul said on Sunday that it had halted attacks at the request of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The two Arab Gulf nations released statements of concern about the clashes.

“There is no kind of threat in any part of Afghanistan’s territory,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said on Sunday. “The Islamic Emirate and the people of Afghanistan will defend their land and remain resolute and committed in this defence.”