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Fresh fighting broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier early on Wednesday, with each side accusing the opposing side of starting lethal confrontations.

Pakistan's military announced that its troops had killed "15-20 Afghan Taliban" and wounded numerous others in the Spin Boldak district border district.

A Taliban government spokesman claimed that 12 non-combatants had been killed and more than 100 wounded by Pakistani firing. He added that several military personnel had been killed. None of the reported deaths could be verified by third parties.

Violence between the neighbors has escalated since blasts rocked Afghanistan recently, which the Afghan capital attributed on Islamabad. The Afghan leadership deny claims that it is harboring armed groups aiming at Pakistan.

Social Media and Military Engagements

The opposing forces are not only fighting for the upper hand on the border, but also on social media, trying to convince the public that their side is inflicting more damage.

The most recent clashes follow severe border confrontations over the past few days, when the Taliban asserted to have killed fifty-eight members of the Pakistani military and Pakistan reported it neutralized two hundred "militants and affiliated terrorists". The claimed casualty figures provided by each side could not be confirmed by external sources.

Several days of fragile calm that had persisted since the recent days were broken on Wednesday.

On-the-Ground Accounts and Impact

Footage purportedly of the conflict and its aftereffects have been circulated on the internet and on social channels, including footage said to be of those deceased and blurry shots from low-light cameras purporting to be of guard positions demolished. These videos have not been verified.

A source in the border area in Afghanistan reported that fighting broke out at around 04:00 local time (11:30 p.m. GMT on the previous day). Another local in Spin Boldak, who lives about a short distance away from the border crossing, reported that "very heavy hostilities continued for almost several hours".

"I see unmanned aircraft and jets soaring over us, a number of our family members are injured," they added.

A doctor in one of the medical facilities in Spin Boldak reported that he tallied "7 bodies and thirty-six wounded transported to the hospital", including males, women and minors.

The circumstances were "tense" and additional casualties were being transferred to hospital, he noted.

Displacement and International Responses

A regional authority figure in Spin Boldak stated that "numerous of families have been forced to flee since the previous evening due to the intense clashes". He mentioned they were on "high alert" after a few Taliban posts were targeted by Pakistani jets. He added that they had the remains of two Pakistani military members.

In a separate overnight engagement on Pakistan's north-western frontier, the Islamabad's forces claimed that twenty-five to thirty Taliban and local insurgent fighters were "suspected" to have been eliminated.

The clashes have prompted calls for de-escalation from other countries including China and Russia, as well as a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that he could intervene to facilitate a ceasefire.

On that day, a UN official, United Nations representative on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, posted on X that he was "deeply concerned" by accounts of civilian casualties and displacement because of the fighting.

"I call on all parties to practice the utmost caution, safeguard civilians, and follow global regulations," he wrote.

Long-Standing Disputes

Islamabad has for years accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing the Pakistan Taliban to function from their land and fight against the Islamabad government in an effort to impose a strict Islamic-led system of governance.

The Taliban leadership has always denied these allegations.