Kabul warned of ‘unbearable punishment’ as clashes persist along border
• Torkham stays shut for five hours following firefight over disputed check post
• Military spox says Afghan Taliban ‘won’t be able to bear cost’ of harbouring terrorists
• Names India as ‘prime contractor’ behind terrorism in Pakistan
• Rubio says US shares Pakistan’s concerns over attacks from Afghan soil, open to role in easing tensions
KHYBER/LOWER SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Pakistani and Afghan border forces exchanged fire at several points along their border on Sunday, as the military warned that the Afghan Taliban would not be able to withstand the “punishment” Islamabad could inflict if Kabul failed to rein in terrorists.
The fresh clashes temporarily shut down the busy Torkham border crossing over a disputed check post and killed one civilian in mortar shelling near the Angoor Adda crossing.
The situation unfolded as Washington validated Pakistan’s concerns regarding cross-border terrorist attacks originating from Afghanistan and signalled openness to playing a productive role in easing tensions.
The situation at the Torkham crossing stabilised after a nearly five-hour closure caused by an hourlong exchange of light-arms fire.
It reopened only after border officials from both countries agreed through intermediaries to halt all construction near the border. However, tensions remained high in the Angoor Adda area of Lower South Waziristan.
According to the deputy commissioner of Lower South Waziristan, Taliban fighters continued to target Pakistani border checkpoints with unprovoked firing.
Pakistani security forces responded immediately and effectively, targeting “multiple Afghan border posts, mortar positions, and defensive checkpoints”, the official wrote on X, adding that no reports of any casualties have emerged from the border areas on the Pakistani side.
Border clashes
According to locals, gunfire erupted at Torkham on Sunday when Afghan authorities once again started construction on a disputed check post.
Authorities at Torkham said the Afghan side began work on the controversial Zangali check post, situated within a 100-metre radius of the Afghan side of the border, despite Pakistan’s strong objections.
The firing continued for nearly an hour with no casualties on the Pakistani side. The two nations had previously agreed to refrain from building security structures within a 100-metre radius of the border.
The intense firing caused the immediate closure of the border and panic among returning Afghans and local residents.
During the standoff, resident Siraj Khan told Dawn that he saw about 20 vehicles carrying unregistered Afghan families hastily returning from the border at Zero Point amid the crossfire.
The repatriation of unregistered Afghans was suspended, and government offices were closed.
Meanwhile, tensions escalated in the Angoor Adda area after two mortar shells were reportedly fired from the Afghan side.
Military’s warning
The flare-ups underscored a stark warning delivered by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
In an interview with a news agency earlier this week, portions of which were broadcast by state media on Sunday, the military’s spokesperson said Pakistan has the operational readiness and a clear strategy to impose a heavy cost on the interim Afghan leadership if terrorism continues originating from Afghan soil.
“Whatever they want to send, they can, they may try. We have the capability to take them out,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said. “They don’t have, I think, the capability to then absorb the punishment that we can [inflict].”
He noted that Pakistan has no desire to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal governance. “We only ask that you don’t support terrorism inside Pakistan. Stop harbouring the terrorist leaders,” he added.
The ISPR chief asserted that while foreign military forces have physically withdrawn from Afghanistan, the Afghan Taliban front continues to operate as a proxy for multiple external parties, singling out India as the primary sponsor of anti-Pakistan terrorism.
“In the case of Pakistan, the prime contractor is India, and the proxies are TTP and the BLA,” he said, describing New Delhi as “the biggest terror sponsor here” and stating that “as far as terrorism in Pakistan is concerned, they [the Afghan Taliban] are a proxy of the Indians”.
Addressing whether Pakistan fears a cross-border drone dynamic similar to Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, Lt Gen Chaudhry noted Afghanistan has no domestic drone industry and relies entirely on external sponsors.
“The capability of Afghans, whatever they have, firstly it’s not their own. There’s no drone industry, there is no technology of that sort in Afghanistan. So it’s been provided by the sponsors, the terror sponsors, because the biggest terror sponsor here is India,” he said.
The ISPR chief emphasised that the Pakistan Army is systematically adapting to the changing character of modern warfare across contact and non-contact domains, cyber operations, drones and long-range munitions.
US shares Pakistan’s concerns
The security concerns were echoed in Washington’s diplomatic messaging, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed that the US shares Pakistan’s concerns regarding cross-border terrorist attacks originating from Afghanistan and signalled openness to playing a productive role in easing tensions.
“We don’t want Pakistan to be targeted for terrorism,” he told reporters at the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Pakistan is concerned about terrorist attacks that are being sponsored from the territory of Afghanistan. They think that the Taliban has not done enough to constrain those attacks,” Mr Rubio said, noting that Pakistan had taken action in response to the threat.
He added that Washington did not have close relations with the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan and the US opposed terrorism regardless of where it originated or whom it targeted.
“We’ve heard the concerns that Pakistan has raised, and we’ve seen some of those attacks that they point to,” Rubio said. “We’re against terrorism no matter where it emanates from and who it targets.”
With input from APP
Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2026
