At least 13 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed in overnight fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Pakistan said Friday, while Afghanistan denied that its forces suffered any casualties.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry said its forces had repelled what it described as an attempted Afghan attack in the Gulistan sector of southwestern Balochistan province. The ministry said at least 13 Taliban personnel were killed and several others injured during the clashes on Thursday night.

The fighting marked another escalation between the two neighboring countries following a series of Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Kabul of allowing militants, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, to operate from Afghanistan and launch attacks into Pakistan. Afghan authorities have denied the allegations.

Pakistan also rejected an Afghan Defense Ministry claim that Afghan forces had destroyed a Pakistani military post near the southern Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, opposite the Pakistani city of Chaman.

Pakistan released videos it said showed its troops firing artillery at Afghan positions. Residents in Chaman said exchanges of fire continued for several hours on Thursday.

The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the videos or the casualty claims made by either side. By Friday, an uneasy calm had returned to the border, with no new fighting reported.

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry denied that its forces had suffered casualties. In a statement posted on X, it said Afghan personnel had instead destroyed a Pakistani post on Thursday and described Pakistan’s account of the fighting as false.

The competing claims came a day after Pakistan said it had carried out airstrikes on 10 locations inside Afghanistan. Islamabad said the sites were storage and launch facilities for drones allegedly used in attacks against Pakistan.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the strikes hit areas in Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces and killed four civilians.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the airstrikes followed the launch of eight drones from Afghanistan and the shelling of Pakistani border posts by Afghan forces. He also said Pakistani troops had previously stopped an attempted militant infiltration from Afghanistan.

Tensions had already increased earlier in the week when Pakistani fighter jets struck locations in eastern Afghanistan that Islamabad described as militant hideouts.

Pakistan said those strikes killed 28 militants, while Afghan authorities said three civilians were killed. The civilian death toll was also confirmed by the United Nations, according to the report.

The latest fighting threatens ongoing mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have been seeking to reduce tensions and promote a lasting settlement between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is a separate organization from Afghanistan’s Taliban, although the two groups are allied.

SOURCE: Associated Press, Munir Ahmed and Abdul Qahar Afghan, September 25, 2026.