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New fighting erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier early on Wednesday, with each side blaming the other of starting lethal clashes.

Pakistan's armed forces stated that its forces had eliminated "15-20 Taliban fighters" and wounded many in the Spin Boldak border district.

A Afghan authorities representative said that 12 Afghan civilians had been killed and more than 100 injured by artillery from Pakistan. He further stated that numerous Pakistani soldiers had been killed. None of the alleged deaths could be verified by third parties.

Hostilities between the neighbouring countries has escalated since blasts rocked Afghanistan last week, which Kabul blamed on Pakistan. The Taliban deny allegations that it is harboring militants aiming at Pakistan.

Social Media and Armed Confrontations

The two sides are not only battling for the advantage on the frontier, but also on social media, trying to persuade the public that their side is inflicting more damage.

The most recent clashes come after intense border confrontations over the past few days, when the Taliban asserted to have eliminated fifty-eight members of the Pakistani military and Islamabad said it neutralized two hundred "Taliban and affiliated insurgents". The claimed death tolls provided by both parties could not be independently verified.

Several days of fragile peace that had lasted since the weekend were shattered on Wednesday.

Local Accounts and Impact

Videos allegedly of the fighting and its aftereffects have been circulated on the internet and on messaging groups, including images claiming to be of those killed and blurry shots from low-light cameras claiming to be of check posts demolished. These recordings have not been verified.

A informant in the border area in Afghanistan reported that clashes erupted at around 4 a.m. local time (23:30 GMT on Tuesday). Another resident in the district, who lives about one kilometre away from the border crossing, reported that "intense hostilities continued for almost five hours".

"I see drones and fighter planes soaring over us, a number of our relatives are injured," they added.

A doctor in one of the hospitals in the region reported that he tallied "7 bodies and thirty-six injured transported to the medical center", including males, women and children.

The situation were "strained" and more victims were being transferred to medical care, he said.

Displacement and Global Responses

A local Taliban official in Spin Boldak announced that "hundreds of households have been displaced since the previous evening due to the intense fighting". He mentioned they were on "high alert" after a few Taliban posts were targeted by aircraft from Pakistan. He added that they had the remains of two armed forces members.

In a separate night-time clash on Pakistan's north-western border, the Islamabad's forces claimed that 25 to 30 Taliban and local insurgent fighters were "suspected" to have been eliminated.

The clashes have led to appeals for de-escalation from foreign nations including Beijing and Russia, as well as a proposal from US President Donald Trump that he could step in to broker peace.

On that day, a UN official, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, posted on X that he was "deeply concerned" by reports of civilian casualties and evacuations because of the fighting.

"I urge everyone involved to exercise maximum restraint, safeguard civilians, and follow international law," he wrote.

Long-Standing Disputes

Islamabad has long accused the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistan Taliban to operate from their territory and battle against the Islamabad government in an effort to enforce a strict Islamic-led system of governance.

The Taliban leadership has consistently denied these allegations.