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PESHAWAR: Pakistan said on Sunday 23 of its soldiers were killed and 29 wounded in overnight cross-border clashes with Afghan Taliban fighters and other militants in the fiercest fighting between the two neighbors since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

The confrontation marks an unprecedented escalation of hostilities along the porous 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) frontier, known as the Durand Line, and threatens to unravel already fragile relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

Earlier in the week, Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of bombing the capital, Kabul, and a market in the country’s east. Pakistan did not claim responsibility for the assault. On Sunday, the Afghan Taliban said they had killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in overnight border operations in response to what it said were repeated violations of its territory and airspace.

Pakistan has previously struck locations inside Afghanistan, targeting what it alleges are militant hideouts, but these have been in remote and mountainous areas. The two sides have also skirmished along the border in the past.

“On the night of 11/12 Oct 2025, Afghan Taliban and Indian-sponsored Fitna al Khawarij [Pakistani Taliban/TTP] launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan, along the Pak-Afghan border,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement. 

“The cowardly action, which included fire and few physical raids, was aimed at destabilizing the border areas to facilitate terrorism.”

Pakistan’s army said its forces exercised “the right of self-defense” and repelled the assault “decisively,” killing more than 200 Taliban fighters and allied militants through “precision fires, strikes and physical raids” on Taliban camps and training facilities operating from Afghan territory.

The statement said 21 Taliban positions on the Afghan side were “briefly physically captured,” and multiple terror training camps “used to plan and facilitate attacks against Pakistan” were destroyed. 

“The infra-structural damages to Taliban posts, camps, Headquarters and support networks of terrorists are extensive, all along the border and range from tactical to operational depth,” the Pakistani statement said. “All possible measures were taken to avoid collateral damage and to protect civilian lives.”

The military accused the Taliban government of facilitating “terrorist outfits” including the Afghan-Pakistan branch of the Daesh group, Fitna al Khawarij (FAK), its term for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militants factions, as well as Fitna al Hindustan (FAH), a label it uses for groups allegedly backed by India.

Islamabad has long said these networks operate from Afghan soil with Indian support to destabilize Pakistan, a claim Kabul denies. 

“We will not tolerate the treacherous use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan,” the ISPR said, warning that Islamabad would continue targeting “terror networks” operating from Afghan soil if Kabul failed to act against them.

Relations between the neighbors have sharply deteriorated since 2021, when optimism following the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul gave way to mounting distrust over cross-border militancy. In the years after Kabul’s takeover, Pakistan has accused the Afghan government of tolerating and even providing sanctuary to fighters from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups. Kabul rejects those claims, insisting it does not permit its territory to be used against other states.

Tensions deepened still further in 2023, when Pakistan launched a sweeping deportation campaign against undocumented Afghans, ordering all “unregistered foreigners” to leave by Nov. 1 that year or face expulsion. Islamabad said the move was intended to curb militancy and crime, though rights groups and Afghan officials have condemned it as punitive. 

Since then, the deportations have become a recurring flashpoint: by 2025, more than 800,000 Afghans had been repatriated or forced out. 

India’s expanding ties to the Taliban, through diplomacy and reconstruction assistance, have further stoked Pakistani fears. Islamabad views New Delhi’s deeper role in Afghan affairs as a strategic encirclement, especially given India’s historic rivalry with Pakistan.

����ֱ�� and other regional actors have frequently urged both Islamabad and Kabul to step back from confrontation and return to dialogue, warning that unchecked escalation could destabilize South Asia.

ISLAMABAD: More than 40 Pakistani universities have made it to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THEWUR) 2026, it emerged this week, with Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad ranking among top 500 global institutions.

The THEWUR annually assesses universities on teaching, research, employability and sustainability. Ranking them enhances a university’s reputation and underscores its academic and global impact.

Pakistani universities that secured a spot in the 601–800 band included Bahauddin Zakariya University, Air University, COMSATS University Islamabad, Government College University Faisalabad, National University of Sciences and Technology, Sukkur IBA University, the University of Lahore and the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore.

“We use 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments,” THEWUR said in a statement on Oct. 9.

The 2026 global university rankings feature 2,191 institutions from 115 countries and territories.

Fifteen Pakistani institutions, placed in the 801–1000 band, included Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Capital University of Science and Technology, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Government College

University Lahore, International Islamic University Islamabad, Iqra University, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore University of Management Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, University of Central Punjab, University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, University of Gujrat, University of Malakand, University of Management and Technology and the University of the Punjab.

Similarly, 10 Pakistani universities were ranked in the 1,001–1,200 band, including Bahria University, Hazara University Mansehra, Institute of Space Technology, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Riphah International University, University of Haripur, University of Education Lahore, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, University of Okara and the University of Peshawar. Another eight Pakistani institutions were placed in the 1,201–1,500 category, while six ranked in the 1,501+ band.