ISLAMABAD: Pakistan responded with counter-fire after Afghan border forces launched unprovoked artillery shelling into Kurram district on Saturday night, a local police official told Pakistan TV Digital.
The official said the incident occurred at around 8:00 p.m., when Afghan forces “fired 6–7 artillery rounds” into Upper Kurram in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistani forces “responded with heavy weaponry,” he said, adding that “relative calm had returned” by the time authorities assessed the area. “It was initiated from the Afghan side,” the official confirmed.
The exchange comes amid heightened tensions along the Pakistan–Afghanistan frontier. Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said the security understanding reached in Qatar last month, meant to halt cross-border attacks, was no longer functioning.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters during his Friday press briefing that the arrangement “was never a conventional ceasefire,” but a commitment that Afghan soil would not be used for attacks inside Pakistan.
“Interpreting it in that sense, the ceasefire is not holding,” he said, citing recent assaults involving Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Fitna al-Khawarij (FAK), and Afghan nationals. He added that continued incidents, including an attack in Islamabad, had eroded Pakistan’s confidence in the mechanism.
Pakistan’s military has also raised concerns over cross-border facilitation of militants. During a November 25 briefing, military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Afghan forces “routinely open fire on Pakistani border posts” to divert attention and enable militant infiltration.
He noted that large stretches of the Afghan side lack functional governance, allowing hostile groups to exploit gaps between border posts.
Chaudhry said the difficult terrain, divided tribal communities, and distance between Pakistani posts and the frontier further complicate border control. Despite fencing and surveillance, he added, the porous environment and limited law-enforcement presence on the Afghan side continue to create vulnerabilities exploited by militant elements.
