By The South Asia Times

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Fresh cross-border clashes erupted near the Torkham frontier on Tuesday evening after Afghan Taliban fighters opened fire on Pakistani security posts in the Tirah and Landi Kotal sectors, prompting a strong military response from Islamabad, security officials said.

A Pakistani security official told The South Asia Times that Afghan Taliban personnel initiated “massive and unprovoked firing” on Pakistani check posts around Iftar time, as soldiers were preparing to break their fast during Ramadan.

“In retaliation, our forces targeted the posts from where the firing originated,” the official said, adding that anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) were used to strike Taliban positions across the border in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.

According to security sources, at least five Afghan Taliban checkpoints were destroyed in the exchange. Initial reports suggest multiple casualties on the Afghan side, though no independent confirmation was immediately available.

The exchange of fire ended after Pakistani forces directly targeted Taliban posts with an ATGM missile. “Those who initiated the firing were eliminated,” the official said, adding that heavy losses were inflicted on the Afghan side.

He further said that Afghan Taliban representatives later raised white flags and sought a ceasefire.

The clashes occurred near the volatile Torkham border crossing, a key transit point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has been closed since October last year.

The latest clashes come days after Pakistan said its air force carried out strikes on seven locations linked to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan’s Khost, Paktika, and Nangarhar provinces. Pakistani officials claimed more than 80 TTP terrorists were killed in those strikes.

The Afghan Taliban regime, however, said 16 civilians were killed in one strike in Nangarhar province. It did not provide details about the other six locations. Local journalists said that Taliban authorities barred residents and reporters from accessing several of the targeted areas across the three provinces.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of providing safe havens to the TTP terrorists and allowing the group to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Afghan authorities deny the allegations.

In the Behsud area of Nangarhar -- where the Afghan Taliban say a civilian house was hit, killing 16 people -- local sources claimed that three members of the family were affiliated with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the TTP also known as the Mohmand Taliban. The family had reportedly relocated to Nangarhar after Pakistani military operations against militants in Mohmand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Tensions between the two neighboring countries have sharply escalated since October last year, after the TTP terrorists stepped up cross-border attacks inside Pakistan targeting security forces and civilians.