Pakistani and Afghan border forces exchanged fire at several points on Sunday, briefly shutting the busy Torkham crossing and leaving one civilian dead near Angoor Adda in Lower South Waziristan, as the military warned Kabul it could not withstand the cost if cross-border terrorism was not restrained.
Clashes at Torkham and Angoor Adda
At Torkham, authorities said Afghan officials resumed work on the disputed Zangali check post, which sits within a 100-metre belt on the Afghan side of the frontier. The two sides had earlier agreed not to build security structures inside that radius. Locals said the fresh construction triggered an exchange of light-arms fire that lasted about an hour.
The shooting forced an immediate closure of the crossing and caused panic among returning Afghans and nearby residents. Resident Siraj Khan said he saw roughly 20 vehicles carrying unregistered Afghan families leave Zero Point in haste amid the crossfire. Repatriation of unregistered Afghans was suspended and government offices were closed for the duration of the standoff.
After nearly five hours, the crossing reopened once border officials, working through intermediaries, agreed to halt construction near the frontier. Tension remained high further south at Angoor Adda, where two mortar shells were reportedly fired from the Afghan side and one civilian was killed.
The deputy commissioner of Lower South Waziristan said Taliban fighters kept targeting Pakistani border checkpoints with unprovoked fire. Pakistani security forces replied by striking multiple Afghan border posts, mortar positions and defensive checkpoints, he wrote on X, adding that no casualties had been reported on the Pakistani side of the border areas.
Military warning to Kabul
The flare-ups came as Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) — the military’s media wing — aired portions of an interview given earlier in the week by its director general, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry. He said Pakistan had the readiness and strategy to impose a heavy cost on Afghanistan’s interim leadership if terrorism continued to originate from Afghan soil.
“Whatever they want to send, they can, they may try. We have the capability to take them out,” he said, adding that the Afghan side lacked the capacity to absorb the punishment Pakistan could inflict. He stressed that Islamabad did not seek to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal governance and asked only that Kabul stop supporting terrorism inside Pakistan and harbouring terrorist leaders.
Lt Gen Chaudhry alleged that the Afghan Taliban acted as a proxy for external parties and named India as the main sponsor of anti-Pakistan violence, identifying the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as proxies. On drones, he said Afghanistan had no domestic industry and relied on outside sponsors for such capability. He also said the Pakistan Army was adapting to modern warfare across cyber, drone and long-range munitions domains.
Washington echoes security concerns
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters at the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, said Washington shared Pakistan’s worries about terrorist attacks sponsored from Afghan territory and was open to a productive role in easing tensions. “We don’t want Pakistan to be targeted for terrorism,” he said, noting that Pakistan believed the Taliban had not done enough to constrain those attacks and had responded to the threat.
Rubio added that the United States did not have close relations with Taliban authorities and opposed terrorism wherever it originated. He said Washington had heard Pakistan’s concerns and had seen some of the attacks Islamabad pointed to.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Earlier this week: ISPR chief Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry warns in an interview that Pakistan can impose a heavy cost if terrorism from Afghan soil continues.
- Sunday — Torkham: About an hour of light-arms fire over disputed work near the Zangali check post; the crossing closes for nearly five hours before reopening after both sides agree to stop construction near the border.
- Sunday — Angoor Adda: Mortar shelling kills one civilian; the local deputy commissioner says Afghan-side firing on Pakistani posts continues and Pakistani forces respond against Afghan positions.
- Sunday: Portions of the ISPR chief’s interview are broadcast on state media as border tension remains elevated.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Sunday ko Pakistan aur Afghanistan ki border par goli bari hui. Torkham crossing lagbhag paanch ghante band raha, jis se logon ka aana-jana ruk gaya. Angoor Adda ke paas mortar shelling mein ek shehri janbahaq hua. Fauj ne Kabul ko clear warning di hai ke agar Pakistan mein dehshatgardi Afghan zameen se aati rahi to us ka nateeja bohat sakht ho sakta hai.
