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Fresh hostilities broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier early on Wednesday, with both parties blaming the other of starting deadly confrontations.

Pakistan's armed forces announced that its troops had eliminated "fifteen to twenty Afghan Taliban" and injured numerous others in the Spin Boldak district border district.

A Afghan authorities spokesman said that twelve Afghan civilians had been fatally struck and more than 100 wounded by artillery from Pakistan. He added that several military personnel had been lost their lives. None of the alleged deaths could be verified by third parties.

Violence between the neighbors has flared since explosions shook Afghanistan last week, which Kabul blamed on Pakistan. The Afghan leadership reject claims that it is harboring militants aiming at Pakistan.

Online Platforms and Armed Confrontations

The opposing forces are not only battling for the upper hand on the frontier, but also on social media, trying to convince the general population that their faction is causing more damage.

The latest fighting come after severe border confrontations over the weekend, when the Afghan forces claimed to have killed fifty-eight members of the Pakistani military and Pakistan reported it neutralized 200 "militants and affiliated terrorists". The reported casualty figures announced by both parties could not be confirmed by external sources.

A few days of fragile calm that had persisted since the recent days were shattered on Wednesday morning.

On-the-Ground Reports and Consequences

Footage purportedly of the fighting and its aftermath have been circulated on the internet and on social channels, including images said to be of those deceased and grainy shots from night vision cameras claiming to be of check posts demolished. These videos have not been verified.

A source in the border area in Afghanistan stated that fighting broke out at around 4 a.m. local time (23:30 GMT on Tuesday). Another local in the district, who lives about one kilometre away from the border crossing, said that "intense hostilities persisted for almost five hours".

"I see unmanned aircraft and jets soaring over us, some of our relatives are injured," they added.

A medical professional in one of the medical facilities in Spin Boldak stated that he counted "7 bodies and thirty-six wounded transported to the hospital", including men, women and children.

The circumstances were "tense" and more victims were being transferred to medical care, he said.

Displacement and International Responses

A regional Taliban official in Spin Boldak announced that "hundreds of families have been forced to flee since last night due to the intense fighting". He said they were on "high alert" after a few Taliban posts were attacked by Pakistani jets. He further indicated that they had the remains of 2 armed forces members.

In a separate overnight engagement on the north-western border, the Islamabad's forces said that 25 to 30 militant and Pakistani Taliban fighters were "believed" to have been eliminated.

The hostilities have led to calls for de-escalation from other countries including China and Moscow, as well as a proposal from US President Donald Trump that he could step in to facilitate peace.

On that day, a UN official, UN special rapporteur on the situation of civil liberties in Afghanistan, wrote on a social media platform that he was "very worried" by accounts of civilian casualties and evacuations because of the fighting.

"I urge all parties to practice the utmost caution, safeguard non-combatants, and abide by international law," he wrote.

Historical Tensions

Pakistan has long accused the Taliban authorities of allowing the Pakistan Taliban to operate from their land and fight against the Islamabad government in an attempt to impose a rigid Islamic-led system of rule.

The Afghan Taliban government has always denied this.