Taliban Destroys Friendship Gate In Pakistan, Kills Six More Soldiers

<p>In the ongoing conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan that began yesterday evening, the Afghan Army launched a strong counterattack against Pakistani military positions. In its retaliation, Afghan forces destroyed several Pakistani posts, killed multiple Pakistani soldiers, and blew up the Pak-Afghan Friendship Gate at the Kandahar&ndash;Chaman Spin Boldak border using IEDs.<br /><br />According to visuals emerging from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Pakistani forces have suffered the heaviest losses at the Kandahar&ndash;Chaman Spin Boldak and Paktika&ndash;Kurram borders. After blowing up the Friendship Gate, Afghan troops captured the Spin Boldak checkpoint. Afghanistan&rsquo;s government spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid also shared a video claiming that Afghan soldiers seized a Pakistani tank after destroying a post and took it back into Afghan territory.</p>
<h2>Six Pakistani Soldiers Killed In Fresh Clash With Taliban</h2>
<p>Pakistan has confirmed the deaths of six of its soldiers and claimed that 15&ndash;20 Afghan soldiers were killed in its counterfire. However, several images and videos from the border show Afghan soldiers taking photos and videos of Pakistani soldiers&rsquo; bodies and also dragging them toward the Afghan side. The Afghan government further stated that the Pakistani Army appealed for a ceasefire at the Spin Boldak border to retrieve the bodies of its fallen soldiers.<br /><br />While Afghanistan has not officially released the number of Pakistani casualties, government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid asserted that &ldquo;many&rdquo; Pakistani soldiers were killed in the fighting. He also claimed that Afghan Army snipers were seen targeting Pakistani posts during the retaliation.</p>
<p><em><strong>(With inputs from Shivank Mishra)</strong></em></p>