However, the Afghanistan government on Friday sought to defuse tensions and stated it wanted “dialogue” to resolve its conflict with neighbouring Pakistan.
“We have repeatedly emphasised a peaceful solution, and still want the problem to be resolved through dialogue,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a news conference in Kabul.
Iran, a neighbour of both, on Friday offered to help “facilitate dialogue” to resolve conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan. “The Islamic Republic of Iran stands ready to provide any assistance necessary to facilitate dialogue and to enhance understanding and cooperation between the two countries,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X.
Afghanistan’s defence ministry on Friday claimed that its forces captured 19 Pakistani military posts and 2 bases and that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the clashes as the conflict between the two neighbouring escalated overnight, with Islamabad declaring that it is now in an “open war” with the Taliban-ruled nation.
Earlier Mujahid said operations had also been launched in Kandahar and Helmand along the disputed Durand Line against what he described as security posts of Pakistan.
Pakistan said its forces had inflicted significant damage on Taliban positions. According to Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesperson for Pakistan’s prime minister, Pakistani strikes had destroyed 27 Afghan Taliban military posts and captured 9 others. He further claimed that more than 80 tanks, artillery pieces and armoured personnel carriers had been destroyed in the operations.
