Pakistan says all the fighters were killed overnight in North Waziristan, urging the Afghan government to secure the border.
Pakistani troops said its forces killed 16 armed fighter jets along the western border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan said it is “seeking the interim Afghan government to ensure effective border control on the border side.”
The Army said the border forces were killed in nighttime fire exchanges in the North Waziristan area of Kybar Paktanwa province from March 22-23.
“My army was effectively involved and thwarted attempts to penetrate,” he added. “Pakistan’s security forces have been decided and continue to pledge to secure borders and eliminate the threat of terrorism from the country.”
The incident occurred when Afghanistan’s special Pakistani representative of Sadiq Khan officially visited Kabul for two days to talk about bilateral and economic issues, a statement from the Pakistani embassy in Kabul said.
Earlier this month, Pakistani security forces attacked two hideouts used by armed groups in the Mohmand of Kyber Paktunka and Dela Ismail Khan district.
Once considered one of the closest allies of Afghanistan’s Taliban, Pakistan has seen its relationship with its neighbors worsening over the past three years.
Islamabad has accused Afghan Taliban rulers of failing to curb the activity of the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that emerged in 2007 and subsequently carried out hundreds of attacks on Pakistani security forces.
In 2024 alone, Pakistan witnessed more than 500 attacks, resulting in more than 1,500 deaths between civilians and law enforcement officials.
The banned TTP is another group, but Afghanistan’s allies are Afghanistan’s Taliban allies, as the US and other NATO forces were in the final stages of withdrawal from the country in August 2021 after a 20-year war.
The Pakistani government accused Afghan citizens of being involved in these attacks and claims that Kabul is providing shelter to the TTP.
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