Taliban fighters allegedly hung the trousers and rifles of captured Pakistani soldiers in city centres following recent clashes. A purported image has gone viral on social media, showing the pants and weapons of Pakistani soldiers displayed in an Afghan city.
According to reports, the Taliban carried out victory rallies across Afghanistan on Tuesday after a military clash with Pakistan.
Pakistani and Afghan forces have engaged in deadly exchanges of fire at several points along their shared border, with both sides claiming to have seized and destroyed border installations, marking one of the most serious confrontations in recent years.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has claimed that at least 58 Pakistani troops were killed in “retaliatory” operations on Saturday night, two days after explosions were reported in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, and the southeastern province of Paktika.
The Pakistani military acknowledged 23 fatalities among its soldiers while asserting that it had killed 200 Taliban fighters and associated “terrorists.” Pakistan’s interior minister described the Afghan attacks as “unprovoked aggression.”
The Taliban government has alleged that Pakistan was responsible for Thursday’s bombings. Pakistan has neither confirmed nor denied these claims.
Pakistan has long been accused of supporting Taliban insurgents during their armed resistance against the US-led occupation of Afghanistan and was among only three nations that granted diplomatic recognition to the first Taliban government between 1996 and 2001.
