Once again there have been reports of clashes at five places on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. On Tuesday (24 February 2026) at 6:43 pm (Indian time), the Pakistani Army targeted the Afghan post located on the Urgha border with artillery. After this, clashes started in Uragha Border, Jaka Khel, Vargha, Shahkot and Landi Kotal areas.

India condemned the airstrike on Afghanistan

Pakistan Army conducted airstrike in the areas bordering Afghanistan on Sunday morning. Kabul alleged that residential areas were attacked in the operation. Pakistan, on the other hand, said that the attacks were carried out on terrorist groups in Afghanistan, which it holds responsible for several recent suicide attacks inside Pakistan. India condemned Pakistan’s air strikes in Afghanistan region.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ‘India strongly condemns Pakistan’s air strikes on Afghan soil during the holy month of Ramzan, which have resulted in the deaths of civilians, including women and children. This is another attempt by Pakistan to blame India for its internal failures. India reiterates its support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s accusation on Afghanistan

Pakistan has been accusing Afghanistan of failing to stop terrorists from using its soil for attacks. Due to this, relations between Pakistan and Afghan Taliban have deteriorated. In October last year, there was a brief armed conflict between the two sides. According to the Pakistani Army, 23 Pakistani soldiers and more than 200 Afghan Taliban soldiers were killed.

After Pakistan’s airstrike, Taliban warned Asim Munir’s army of action. Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, Pakistan bombed our civilians in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, killing and injuring dozens of people, including women and children.

Pakistan’s problems seem to be increasing due to one step taken by India’s two friendly countries. Ambassador of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Russia, Gul Hassan has said that Afghanistan is fully ready to restart its cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Afghanistan is currently an observer country in SCO, but now it wants to play an active role in the organization’s meetings again.

In an interview with Russian news agency TASS, Gul Hassan said that he hoped that Afghan representatives would participate in the upcoming SCO meetings. He said that after the efforts of Russia and China, most of the SCO member countries have come to the conclusion that it is necessary and practical to restart Afghanistan’s participation.

Difficult for Pakistan

This activism of Afghanistan can create an uncomfortable situation for Pakistan. If the Taliban government becomes active on the SCO platform, then Pakistan and Afghanistan will sit on the same platform on an equal footing. This could be politically and diplomatically challenging for Islamabad.

Pakistan suffers losses due to Afghanistan’s presence

Gul Hassan said that Afghanistan wants to work together with SCO on issues like regional security, fight against terrorism, stopping drug smuggling and economic cooperation. He believes that instead of keeping Afghanistan isolated, it is in the interest of the entire region to make it a part of the regional structure. If Afghanistan becomes active in SCO then Pakistan’s influence may weaken. Till now Pakistan has been calling itself an important player in Afghan affairs, but this situation can change with the direct presence of Afghanistan at a forum like SCO. India will also benefit from this, because India is already a member of SCO and has old and strong relations with Afghanistan.

China’s help to Afghanistan

Apart from this, China also wants to increase direct economic cooperation with Afghanistan. This can reduce dependence on Pakistan. If SCO adopts a common policy regarding Afghanistan, then Pakistan will also have to follow the same. SCO includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran and many countries of Central Asia. In such a situation, Afghanistan’s return can give it a new identity at the international level and strengthen its position in regional politics.

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Tension on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is once again on the rise. The ongoing clashes between the two countries have not only shaken the border areas but have also destabilized the security situation of South Asia. In the latest development, a 48-hour ceasefire has been declared after the conflict between the two armies in the Spin Boldak area, but before this ceasefire, some videos went viral on social media, which heated up the entire controversy.

Just hours before the ceasefire, some videos surfaced on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), purportedly showing Taliban forces capturing Pakistani tanks. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that his fighters responded to Pakistani shelling, killing several Pakistani soldiers, destroying some military installations and capturing Pakistani tanks and weapons. It has been claimed that the tanks shown in the video were actually Soviet-era T-55 tanks, which are part of the Afghan Army’s old stock and have been in use since the 1980s. People are considering the viral video as AI generated. For this reason ABP News does not verify the video. On the other hand, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif completely denied this claim and said, “We do not have the tanks that they are calling ours.” Perhaps he might have bought those tanks from a scrap dealer.

BREAKING: Afghan Taliban forces have seized a tank from Pakistan army and taken it to Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/8KGSrHohjE

— OSINT Updates (@OsintUpdates) October 15, 2025

Background of border skirmishes

These clashes started when Pakistan’s security positions were attacked from the Afghan border. Pakistan responded with air strikes, after which the situation became more serious. Spin Boldak, which is located in the south-east of Afghanistan, has always been a disputed area between the two countries. Dozens of soldiers and civilians were killed in fighting last weekend. A statement issued by Afghanistan said that their forces killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in operations conducted overnight, while according to Pakistan the number was only 23. Pakistani officials, in retaliation, claimed that they had captured 19 border posts of Afghanistan.

Pak Army just lost its tanks — to #AfghanTaliban,#Taliban seized a cache of light & heavy weapons, incl tanks, & moved them across Spin Boldak border.

A massive humiliation. The myth of #Pakistan‘s ‘military might’ is falling apart — one tank at a time.#AfghanistanAndPakistan pic.twitter.com/p2GZAISk6T

— Ashok Kumar Bhat (@AshokBhat_KP) October 16, 2025

Ceasefire and diplomatic efforts

After continuous clashes, both the countries signed a 48-hour ceasefire agreement. Islamabad said that this ceasefire is an opportunity for constructive dialogue and finding a peace solution. At the same time, Afghanistan also accepted the ceasefire, but it repeated the allegation on Pakistan that Islamabad had first started the clash by carrying out air strikes. According to the report of news agency AFP, local residents of Spin Boldak are now gradually returning to their homes from where they had fled during the fighting. However, the situation on the border still remains tense and there are reports of heavy military deployment from both sides.

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