 "Armed Taliban security personnel keep guard near the closed gate of the zero point border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan at Spin Boldak district in Kandahar province. Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged in violent clashes since the weekend. AFP")
After a deadly weekend, violence erupted once again at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Wednesday in a remote area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, on Wednesday (October 15) wrote on X that Pakistan launched attacks on Afghanistan in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar using light and heavy weapons. He said that more than 12 civilians were killed and over 100 were injured in the attack.
The violence has even gained the attention of US President Donald Trump, who has proclaimed that he is “good at solving wars”.
What’s the latest going on? And will Trump be able to quash the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan?
Violence erupts again between Afghanistan and Pakistan
On Wednesday, Afghan and Pakistani forces clashed again , rupturing a fragile peace that had briefly taken hold after the weekend saw unprecedented violence. Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on X, “Early this morning, Pakistani forces launched attacks… more than 12 civilians were martyred and over 100 others were wounded.”
The Taliban said it had killed “a large number of Pakistani soldiers”, captured their posts and centres, seized their weapons and tanks , and “destroyed” most of their military facilities.
However, Pakistani officials blamed the Taliban for the violence, saying four civilians had been injured in the clashes. “Taliban forces attacked Pakistani post near Chaman (district),” Habib Ullah Bangulzai, the regional administrator in Pakistan’s Chaman district, told Reuters.
The fighting continued for about five hours in the early hours of the day, he said, adding that Pakistani forces had “repulsed” the attack.
The Pakistani military also put out a statement, claiming they had killed around 20 Taliban soldiers. “Afghan Taliban resorted to cowardly attack at four locations… While repulsing the attack, 15-20 Afghan Taliban have been killed and many injured. The situation is still developing,” the military said in a statement, adding that around 30 Taliban and affiliated fighters were also “suspected” to have been killed in separate overnight clashes on the northwest border.
A weekend of deadly clashes
The violence on Wednesday is a follow-up to the clashes that broke out over the weekend.
Late on Saturday, Taliban forces attacked Pakistani military posts along the length of the 2,600 km (1,600 miles) border, with Pakistani forces later retaliating. Guns, artillery and drones exchanged fire into the early hours of Sunday. The Taliban in Afghanistan claimed that the attacks were “retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul” last Thursday.
According to the Taliban, 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed and around 30 wounded in the clashes, while nine Taliban forces were killed. However, Pakistan claimed that 23 of its soldiers had been killed while more than 200 Taliban and affiliated troops had been gunned down.
The Pakistani military also claimed multiple Taliban locations were destroyed along the border and “21 hostile positions on the Afghan side of the border were also briefly physically captured and multiple terrorist training camps used to plan and facilitate attacks against Pakistan were rendered inoperative.”
Notably, these clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border came at a time when Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was in India. Moreover, these clashes on Saturday and Sunday was the worst the two nations have seen since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
Tensions between the two have been escalating in recent times with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of sheltering members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad claims is behind a series of deadly attacks inside the country. Kabul has rejected these allegations, insisting it does not allow Afghan territory to be used against any other nation.
According to experts speaking to Al Jazeera, Pakistan is trying to establish a “new normal” with the Taliban, by making clear that future attacks on its soil could invite retribution inside Afghanistan.
Trump hints at solving this war
And even as Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to trade firing with one another, US President Donald Trump, buoyed with his Gaza peace plan being accepted, suggested he’s willing to step in to resolve the conflict, saying he is “good at solving wars.”
The American leader made the remarks while on his way to Egypt to co-chair an international peace summit on Gaza. “I hear there’s a war now going between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I said, I’ll have to wait until I get back,” Trump said while speaking to the press on Air Force One on Sunday.
The remarks are on the back of what Trump claims is the eighth war he has solved — the one between Israel and Hamas. Last week, both the warring factions agreed on the first phase of the 20-point Gaza peace plan, following which on Monday, Hamas released all 20 living hostages.
To mark the occasion, Trump in the Israeli parliament said: “After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm. The guns are silent. The sirens are still. And the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace.
He then upped the number of wars he claims to have ended in his first eight months in office, saying, “Yesterday I was saying seven, but now I can say eight.”
However, many analysts question the claims about solving eight wars , noting that they are not accurate.
It remains unclear as to whether Trump will intervene in this battle between Afghanistan and Taliban. But if he does, will the Taliban listen? Also, will Shehbaz Sharif and Asim Munir be willing to let Trump intervene?
With inputs from agencies