Afghan Taliban claim to have killed 50 Pakistani soldiers

A spokesman for the Taliban government, Zabiullah Mujahed, told the BBC that Afghan forces had destroyed 19 Pakistani border roadblocks and had banned a number of Pakistani soldiers.

He also claimed that more than 50 Pakistani troops were killed.

There was no independent confirmation of these figures.

Pakistan, meanwhile, claims it has destroyed 27 border roadblocks belonging to Afghan Taliban and said it has caused serious casualties to Taliban forces.

Otherwise, this morning the Pakistani Air Force bombed Afghanistan's capital this morning, after months of face-to-face fighting near their long mountainous border.

Blasts accompanied by the noise of jet planes could be heard throughout the city around 01:50 (20:50 GMT on Thursday), they said, adding that gunfire were heard in downtown Kabul by around 2:30.

Pakistani air strikes so far have destroyed 27 military roadblocks of Afghan Taliban and captured nine others, according to Mosharraf Zaidi, the spokesman for Pakistan's prime minister.

They have also destroyed more than 80 tanks, artillery and armed personnel carriers, he said.

According to Mosharraf Zaid, spokesman for Pakistan's prime minister, to date the Pakistani forces have killed a total of 133 Afghan Taliban and more than 200 were injured.

There were several other “victims --” from Pakistan's attacks on Afghanistan in Kabul, the Pact and Kandahar on Friday, he wrote on X.

Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shebas Sharif, said the country's forces “have full capacity to suppress any aggressive ambitions”, the BBC writes.

“There will be no compromise in protecting the beloved homeland and any aggression will receive an appropriate response”, he said, according to a series of posts in the Pakistani government's X account.

Local Taliban government officials in Afghanistan have claimed that they were shot by Pakistani firearms at a refugee camp in Nangarhar, where Afghan citizens from Pakistan are located.

Iran is willing to assist in “facilitating dialogue” between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Abbas Arghchi said in an X statement.

He also called on the two countries to resolve their differences through good neighbourly and dialogue”.

Iran has previously offered to mediate between the two countries, while border tensions are increasing. /Periscope/

Pakistan declares war on Afghanistan, mass bombings, and threats to oppress Taliban