Pakistan’s army gave what state broadcaster PTV called an effective response with heavy weaponry to unprovoked shelling by the Afghan Taliban in the Kurram sector, destroying several Afghan armed forces fortifications, TASS reported on Saturday, citing PTV’s post on X; no casualties from the exchange were reported in the account. The exchange follows earlier clashes in the Dand-Patan district of Afghanistan’s Paktia province, where the Afghan channel TOLO News, citing a security source, reported seven Pakistani service members killed and six wounded. Neither side’s figures had been independently confirmed in the reporting checked.
Pakistan says it answered Afghan shelling with heavy weapons
Pakistan's state broadcaster said the army responded with heavy weapons to shelling by Afghan forces in the Kurram sector on Saturday, destroying several Afghan fortifications, in the latest exchange across the two countries' border.
Why it matters: Heavy weapons and destroyed fortifications mark a step up in the Pakistan and Afghanistan border fighting, and each side's account currently rests on its own state or domestic media, with no independent confirmation of the damage.
Data as of Saturday, October 17, 2026, 13:43 ET. Developing item, evidence grade C: single chain of reporting, TASS (in Russian, read in full) relaying a post on X by PTV, Pakistan's state television, with no independent corroboration of the exchange or the damage in the sources checked. The earlier casualty figures are from Afghanistan's TOLO News via TASS and are likewise uncorroborated.
Sources
- Pakistan used heavy weapons in response to shelling from Afghanistan · TASS, in Russian, citing PTV · 2026-10-17