ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said on Friday 12 soldiers had been killed in cross-border fighting with Afghan forces, as it detailed the scale of an ongoing border operation and accused the Kabul government of coordinating with militant groups targeting Pakistan.
The announcement followed days of escalating hostilities triggered by Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week on what Islamabad said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan. Since then, both governments have reported retaliatory operations and issued conflicting casualty figures, marking the most serious deterioration in relations between the neighbors in recent months.
The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) shared frontier between the two nations, a key trade and transit corridor, has remained closed to trade and movement since October 2025 amid recurring tensions.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), told a news conference in Rawalpindi that Pakistani forces had repelled coordinated attacks at 53 locations along the border and responded under what he described as Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.
“While safeguarding Pakistan’s honor and territorial integrity, 12 brave soldiers have embraced martyrdom in the operation so far, while 27 have been injured and one soldier is missing in action,” he said.
