Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry Announces Completion of Operation in Pakistan

According to the ministry, the operation was successful and ended at midnight local time (07:00 a.m. GMT), TASS reported.

The Taliban ministry of defense took measures against centers of Pakistan’s security forces along the Durand Line (known as the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan) in response to repeated intrusions into the Afghanistan’s airspace and air strikes, according to the TV channel.

At least several dozen Afghan servicemen were killed in clashes with Pakistani army units along the border between the two countries, Pakistan’s Geo TV channel reported before.

Earlier on Saturday, reports of gunfire emerged from the Afghan province of Helmand. Later, the Afghan Air Force struck the Pakistani city of Lahore. Taliban officials did not provide details of the operation. Afghanistan’s TOLO News TV channel reported on its website that at least 12 Pakistani servicemen were killed in the clashes.

The dispute on the border between the two countries is one of the longest globally. The delimitation agreement between British and Afghan possessions was signed in 1893 in Kabul. Afghanistan does not recognize the Durand Line as the official border since 1947, after establishment of independent Pakistan. The dispute was often the cause of armed conflicts and uprisings in border areas.