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Fresh fighting erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border early on Wednesday, with each side accusing the other of starting lethal clashes.

Pakistan's armed forces announced that its forces had killed "15-20 Taliban fighters" and wounded many in the Spin Boldak district frontier area.

A Afghan authorities representative said that 12 non-combatants had been fatally struck and more than 100 wounded by Pakistani firing. He further stated that several Pakistani soldiers had been killed. None of the reported fatalities could be independently confirmed.

Hostilities between the neighbouring countries has escalated since explosions shook Afghanistan last week, which the Afghan capital blamed on Islamabad. The Taliban reject allegations that it is sheltering militants aiming at Pakistan.

Social Media and Armed Engagements

The two sides are not only battling for the advantage on the border, but also on digital platforms, trying to convince the general population that their side is inflicting more damage.

The latest fighting follow intense border confrontations over the weekend, when the Taliban claimed to have killed fifty-eight members of the Islamabad's armed forces and Pakistan said it neutralized two hundred "militants and affiliated terrorists". The reported death tolls provided by both parties could not be independently verified.

A few days of unstable calm that had lasted since the weekend were shattered on Wednesday morning.

Local Reports and Impact

Footage allegedly of the conflict and its aftereffects have been circulated on the internet and on social channels, including footage claiming to be of those killed and blurry shots from low-light cameras purporting to be of guard positions destroyed. These recordings have not been verified.

A source in the border area in Afghanistan stated that clashes broke out at around 4 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. GMT on Tuesday). Another local in the district, who lives about one kilometre away from the frontier post, said that "very heavy clashes persisted for almost five hours".

"We observed unmanned aircraft and jets flying over us, a number of our relatives are wounded," they added.

A doctor in one of the hospitals in the region reported that he counted "seven fatalities and thirty-six wounded transported to the medical center", including men, women and minors.

The situation were "tense" and additional casualties were being transferred to medical care, he said.

Evacuations and International Responses

A regional authority figure in Spin Boldak stated that "numerous of households have been displaced since last night due to the heavy clashes". He mentioned they were on "maximum readiness" after a several military positions were targeted by Pakistani jets. He further indicated that they had the bodies of 2 Pakistani military members.

In a separate overnight engagement on the western border, the Pakistani military claimed that 25 to 30 militant and Pakistani Taliban fighters were "suspected" to have been killed.

The clashes have prompted appeals for reduced tensions from foreign nations including China and Russia, as well as a suggestion from the American leader that he could step in to broker a ceasefire.

On that day, a UN official, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, wrote on X that he was "deeply concerned" by accounts of non-combatant deaths and evacuations because of the fighting.

"I urge all parties to exercise the utmost caution, protect non-combatants, and follow global regulations," he wrote.

Long-Standing Tensions

Islamabad has long accused the Taliban authorities of allowing the Pakistan Taliban to operate from their land and battle against the Pakistani administration in an effort to enforce a rigid religion-based system of governance.

The Taliban leadership has always denied these allegations.