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New fighting erupted along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border early on Wednesday, with both parties accusing the other of initiating lethal confrontations.

Pakistan's military stated that its troops had killed "15-20 Afghan Taliban" and wounded numerous others in the Spin Boldak frontier area.

A Taliban government representative said that twelve non-combatants had been fatally struck and over a hundred wounded by artillery from Pakistan. He further stated that numerous military personnel had been lost their lives. Not one of the alleged fatalities could be independently confirmed.

Hostilities between the neighbouring countries has escalated since blasts shook Afghanistan recently, which the Afghan capital blamed on Islamabad. The Afghan leadership deny claims that it is sheltering armed groups targeting Pakistan.

Social Media and Military Confrontations

The opposing forces are not only fighting for the advantage on the frontier, but also on digital platforms, trying to persuade the general population that their faction is causing more damage.

The most recent fighting follow intense border hostilities over the weekend, when the Afghan forces claimed to have killed fifty-eight members of the Pakistani military and Islamabad said it killed two hundred "militants and affiliated terrorists". The claimed death tolls announced by each side could not be independently verified.

A few days of fragile peace that had lasted since the recent days were shattered on Wednesday morning.

Local Accounts and Impact

Footage allegedly of the fighting and its aftereffects have been shared on the internet and on messaging groups, including footage said to be of those killed and grainy shots from night vision cameras purporting to be of check posts demolished. These videos have not been verified.

A source in the border area in Afghanistan reported that fighting broke out at around 04:00 local time (23:30 GMT on the previous day). Another local in the district, who lives about one kilometre away from the frontier post, said that "very heavy hostilities persisted for almost five hours".

"We observed drones and fighter planes flying over us, a number of our family members are wounded," they added.

A doctor in one of the medical facilities in the region reported that he tallied "7 fatalities and 36 wounded transported to the medical center", including males, females and minors.

The circumstances were "tense" and additional victims were being transferred to medical care, he said.

Displacement and Global Responses

A local authority figure in the area announced that "numerous of families have been displaced since last night due to the intense clashes". He said they were on "maximum readiness" after a few Taliban posts were targeted by aircraft from Pakistan. He further indicated that they had the remains of two armed forces members.

In a distinct night-time clash on Pakistan's western frontier, the Islamabad's forces said that twenty-five to thirty militant and Pakistani Taliban fighters were "suspected" to have been eliminated.

The clashes have prompted appeals for reduced tensions from other countries including Beijing and Moscow, as well as a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that he could intervene to broker a ceasefire.

On that day, Richard Bennett, United Nations representative on the situation of civil liberties in Afghanistan, wrote on a social media platform that he was "deeply concerned" by accounts of non-combatant deaths and evacuations because of the clashes.

"I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, protect non-combatants, and follow international law," he wrote.

Long-Standing Tensions

Pakistan has long alleged the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistan Taliban to operate from their land and battle against the Pakistani administration in an effort to impose a strict religion-based system of rule.

The Taliban leadership has consistently rejected this.