Pakistani security officials say their forces killed several Afghan Taliban personnel along the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday 17 October, in what they describe as retaliation for unprovoked firing. The account comes from unnamed officials and has not been independently verified. No response from the Taliban authorities has been reported.
According to the officials, firing was reported in the Taida sector, in Upper Kurram and in the Ghuz Garhi area, and one said it was meant to cover cross-border infiltration by militants. The army says it responded near Ghuz Garhi, killing several Taliban personnel, and hit the Topsar post and the Shipola base camp in Upper Kurram, which the official said was destroyed. Some Taliban personnel are said to have abandoned a border post afterwards.
A worsening security picture
The clashes follow aerial strikes inside Afghanistan earlier this month that Pakistan's information ministry called calibrated and said killed members of the banned Pakistani Taliban. Militant attacks inside Pakistan have risen sharply since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. A Pakistani conflict-research institute counted 225 attacks in September, up 13 per cent from 199 in August, the highest monthly figure in 12 years and the third monthly rise in a row.
The two countries agreed a ceasefire in October 2025 after border clashes, but Pakistan launched a new operation in February 2026, and talks have not settled the dispute over militant groups that Islamabad says operate from Afghan soil. The Taliban denies allowing its territory to be used against other states.
