Security forces silence Taliban regime aggression along Pak-Afghan border: PM's spox

• Spox says incident occurred in Torkham and Tirah sub-sectors.
• Govt says its forces responded promptly and effectively, silencing violence. 
• Warns against further escalation, vows to defend territorial integrity.

The Afghan Taliban opened unprovoked fire along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border in the Khyber district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, prompting an immediate and effective response from security forces, a government official said on Tuesday.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the prime Minister’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, said that firing was initiated from the Afghan side in the Torkham and Tirah sub-sectors.

He said that the Pakistani forces “responded immediately and effectively”, adding that the exchange brought the situation under control, "silencing the Taliban aggression".

The government official warned that any further provocation would be met with a swift and severe response. The spokesperson reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to safeguarding citizens and defending the country’s territorial integrity.

The latest incident comes just days after Pakistan’s security forces said they had killed more than 80 militants in intelligence-based airstrikes along the border with Afghanistan.

On February 22, the security forces said that they targeted seven camps and hideouts linked to Fitna al-Khawarij — a term used by the state for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

According to security sources, the strikes were carried out in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost provinces, in response to recent suicide attacks in Pakistan. 

Islamabad-Kabul tension

Pakistan’s recent strikes along the Afghan border come after a wave of militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan that have left many civilians and members of the security forces dead.

Islamabad has repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban authorities to crack down against militant groups that it says are operating from Afghan soil. Pakistani officials maintain that their concerns have not been addressed in a meaningful way by Kabul.

Tensions escalated sharply in October 2025, when the two neighbours were drawn into fierce border clashes following what Pakistan described as unprovoked attacks on its frontier posts by the Afghan Taliban and allied fighters. According to Pakistani officials, more than 200 Taliban and affiliated militants were killed in the fighting, while 23 Pakistani soldiers lost their lives.

In the aftermath, Pakistan carried out what it termed “precision strikes” inside Afghanistan, targeting suspected militant hideouts in Kandahar province and Kabul. 

Meanwhile, diplomatic channels remained open and several rounds of talks followed. But attempts to secure a ceasefire failed. Islamabad has blamed the Afghan Taliban administration for not taking decisive action against armed groups.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Pakistani authorities say cross-border militancy has gathered pace, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, provinces that sit along a long, porous and often volatile frontier.

On February 17, an attack in Bajaur district killed 11 security personnel. Pakistani officials said 12 militants were shot dead during the ensuing operation.