ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops killed several Afghan Taliban personnel and destroyed a military base camp during a fresh border clash on Saturday, security sources said, accusing Afghan forces of opening fire to facilitate the movement of militants into Pakistan.

The reported fighting in the Taida sector of Upper Kurram, a district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, comes amid prolonged tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over cross-border militancy.

The two countries have engaged in sporadic clashes since major border skirmishes in October last year, while Pakistan has also carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, accusing the Taliban authorities of sheltering militants responsible for attacks on its territory.

“Pakistan Army [gave] full and effective response to Afghan Taliban’s unprovoked firing in Taida Sector, Upper Karam Orghuz Garhi,” security officials said on condition of anonymity.

“Several Afghan Taliban regime personnel are reportedly killed in Pakistan Army’s retaliatory action,” they added.

The officials said Pakistani forces had targeted the Taliban’s Topsar border post and Shipola base camp during the exchange of fire, claiming the base camp had been “destroyed completely.”

They said Taliban personnel had abandoned a border post following the Pakistani response, while firing continued in the area.

The reported casualties and destruction could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from the Afghan Taliban authorities.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing militants, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks across the border. Kabul denies the allegations, maintaining that Pakistan’s security problems are an internal matter.

The tensions have periodically erupted into armed confrontations along the countries’ roughly 2,600-kilometer border, with both sides accusing each other of initiating hostilities.

The latest confrontation comes amid a surge in militant violence in Pakistan’s two western provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where security forces have faced deadly attacks and carried out intelligence-based operations.

On Friday, Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said it had killed Zahid Gul, a commander of the Gul Bahadur militant group whom authorities identified as the mastermind of a September attack on a police compound in Kohat.

The assault killed 17 police personnel and six civilians, while eight attackers were also killed, making it one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent months.

Pakistan has stepped up counterterrorism operations in response to the violence, while pressing Kabul to prevent militant groups from using Afghan territory to stage attacks across the border.