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An overnight exchange of gunfire and shelling at a key Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing killed four civilians and one soldier, Afghan officials reported on Saturday.
Five additional civilians sustained injuries, according to Afghan government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat, while a local hospital in Chaman, Pakistan, reported three minor injuries.
Both sides accused each other of initiating “unprovoked” attacks at the Chaman–Spin Boldak crossing in southern Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces began firing, prompting Afghan retaliation, while Pakistan maintained that Afghan forces fired first.
Ali Mohammed Haqmal, head of Kandahar’s information department, said Pakistani troops used light and heavy artillery, with mortars hitting civilian homes.
Residents on the Afghan side reported that the fighting began around 10:30 pm local time and lasted roughly two hours, with several homes damaged and some civilians killed while attempting to take cover. On the Pakistani side, border residents described mortar shells landing near houses, forcing many to shelter indoors.
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have escalated since the Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), a claim Kabul denies.
Previous clashes in October killed more than 70 people, leading to a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but subsequent talks in Doha and Istanbul have failed to secure a lasting agreement. The border remains largely closed, although Pakistan plans to partially reopen the Chaman crossing for UN aid deliveries, a process officials say will continue despite the latest fighting.
