Pakistan-Afghanistan border clashes intensify, killing four brothers

Four members of a family in Pakistan were killed in cross-border firing from Afghanistan, a police official told Anadolu on Sunday, as tensions between the neighboring countries escalate into deadly exchanges. The victims were brothers and the incident occurred in the Salarzai area of Bajaur district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, said the official on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate reaction from Kabul to the reported incident.

Pakistan strikes inside Afghanistan

Separately, Pakistan's Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said Sunday that Islamabad carried out overnight strikes on "targeted military installations including terrorist hideouts." According to him, a "technical support infrastructure and equipment storage facility in Kandahar (province)," a tunnel housing "technical equipment of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij," and "a terrorist (jump-off) point at Badini Post of Afghanistan" were destroyed. Tarar claimed Islamabad has killed 684 Afghan Taliban operatives and militants since tensions escalated.

Afghan retaliation claims

The Afghan Defense Ministry, for its part, claimed its forces targeted a military base in Wana town in the South Waziristan district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province "in retaliation for the attacks on Kandahar," according to Afghanistan's Bakhtar News Agency. "A significant portion of the headquarters and critical infrastructure was destroyed, resulting in heavy casualties among Pakistani military personnel," the agency reported. Pakistan's Information Ministry, however, denied the report, saying it was "a rudimentary drone" destroyed over South Waziristan "through soft kill measures" and that "no military installation or infrastructure was hit."

Mounting toll

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have worsened in recent weeks as border tensions escalated last month, causing casualties and property damage. Since late February, clashes have killed 104 people on both sides, including 13 soldiers and five civilians in Pakistan, with one soldier missing, according to Pakistani figures; and 13 soldiers and 72 civilians in Afghanistan, according to Kabul. According to UN data, 185 civilian casualties, including 56 deaths from indirect fire and aerial attacks, were reported in Afghanistan between Feb. 26 and March 5.

Cross-border accusations

Pakistan says it targets only terrorists and accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants who attack its territory, a claim Kabul denies. The conflicting casualty figures and mutual accusations of attacks highlight the volatile nature of cross-border relations, with neither side's claims independently verifiable. The latest deaths add to a growing toll that threatens to further destabilize the region.