Armed clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan have continued for a third day, with casualties surging. The death tolls each side claims for the other already top 300 combined.
On the 28th (local time), according to AP and AFP, Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan's Information Minister, said that 331 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 500 wounded from the 26th through that day. The Pakistani government claimed it destroyed 102 outposts and seized 22 across 37 Afghan districts, and also destroyed 163 tanks and armored vehicles.
Afghanistan, by contrast, said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 outposts were seized. It also said its own losses were far lower than the figures Pakistan claimed.
Afghanistan said around midnight it attacked a military base in North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwestern Pakistan. The Ministry of National Defense claimed the base was destroyed, with severe damage and casualties.
Afghanistan also said it shot down a Pakistani fighter jet in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, in the east and captured the pilot. Residents told AFP they saw a person who had ejected by parachute being detained. The type of fighter was not confirmed, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan countered, "It is not true at all."
Near the border at Torkham, Afghan refugees were also stranded due to the clashes. Refugee Ijaz ul Haq told AP that many are struggling to obtain food during the Ramadan fast.
The latest clashes escalated after Pakistan attacked bases of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups on the 22nd, and Afghanistan launched retaliatory airstrikes on the 26th. Pakistan said it struck back after concluding that a recent wave of bombings was carried out by militant groups acting on orders from Afghanistan-based elements.
The day before, Pakistan struck as far as Kabul and southern Kandahar Province. Kandahar is the base area of Afghan Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. In October last year, more than 70 people on both sides were killed after Pakistani airstrikes on Kabul and Afghan Taliban retaliation.
TTP, the spark for the bilateral clashes, is an extremist organization formed by Sunni Islamist militant groups. Aiming to overthrow the Pakistani government and build a state governed by Sharia, it is separate from the Afghan Taliban but is known to share similar ideology and maintain cooperative ties.