Dozens of fighters were killed in overnight border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, both sides said on Sunday, in the most serious fighting between the neighbours since the Taliban came to power in Kabul.

The Pakistan military said that 23 of its soldiers were killed in the clashes. The Taliban said nine on its side were killed.

Tensions have risen after Islamabad demanded the Taliban take action against militants who have stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operate from havens in Afghanistan. The Taliban, which came to power in 2021, denies that Pakistani militants are present on its soil.

Each side said it inflicted far higher casualties on the other side, without providing evidence. Pakistan said it had killed more than 200 Afghan Taliban and allied fighters, while Afghanistan said that it had killed 58 Pakistani soldiers. Kabul said on Sunday that it had halted attacks at the request of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The two Arab Gulf nations had released statements of concern about the clashes.

“There is no kind of threat in any part of Afghanistan’s territory,” the Taliban administration’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Sunday. “The Islamic Emirate and the people of Afghanistan will defend their land and remain resolute and committed in this defence.”

Mujahid said that fighting was ongoing in some areas. The two main border crossings with Afghanistan, at Torkham and Chaman, and at least three minor crossings, at Kharlachi, Angoor Adda and Ghulam Khan, were closed on Sunday, local officials said.

The Pakistani airstrikes coincided with a rare visit to India by a Taliban leader, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, which resulted in an announcement by India on Friday to upgrade relations. India is Pakistan’s longstanding adversary, with the trip causing concern in Islamabad.

Soure: Here