Pakistan, Afghanistan claim dozens of casualties in border clashes

Al Jazeera::

Pakistan’s military says it has killed more than 200 Afghan fighters while Afghanistan claims it killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in crossborder clashes along their frontier.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, on Sunday said 30 other Pakistani soldiers were wounded and a “significant amount” of Pakistani weapons fell into Afghan hands.

Mujahid challenged the Pakistani report, adding that nine Taliban soldiers were killed in the overnight operations and nearly a dozen others were injured.

Pakistan’s military, on the other hand, said 23 of its “brave sons” were killed in the clashes, and officials said they closed their border with Afghanistan.

Border hostilities erupted after Thursday’s explosions in Afghanistan, which the Taliban blamed on Pakistan, representing the sharpest escalation in months of strained relations over Islamabad’s allegations that Afghanistan is harbouring armed groups behind attacks inside Pakistan.