Pakistan army responds to cross-border firing from Afghanistan, security sources say

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's army responded on Saturday, 17 October, to firing by Afghan forces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to security sources cited by Antara, which carried a Xinhua report.

The account comes from unnamed security sources. Antara's report does not quote any named official or a formal military statement.

What the sources said

The security sources said the firing was believed to have been carried out to help foreign militants enter Pakistani territory. Antara reported that the sources used the word "terrorists" for the people they said were meant to cross. The report gives no evidence for that claim.

According to the sources, Pakistani troops answered the fire and targeted several positions on the Afghan side of the border.

The sources said some armed Afghan personnel were reported killed in the exchange. Antara's report gives no number of dead or wounded and does not say whether Pakistani personnel were hurt.

The sources also said a post and a base belonging to the Afghan side were targeted. They said the base was reportedly destroyed in the retaliation. Afterwards, the sources said, Afghan forces pulled back from their border post.

According to the same sources, the exchange of fire was still going on in the area when the report was filed. They said the Pakistan Army remained on alert and was determined to defend the country's border and protect national security.

What is not confirmed

The report rests on a single group of unnamed sources. The details it gives have not been independently verified in the material provided.

Antara's text does not include a response from the Afghan government or Afghan forces. It does not say whether Afghan officials accept the account of how the fighting began or of what was hit.

The report also does not name the district or crossing point where the exchange took place. It gives no time of day for the start of the firing. It does not say how many positions were targeted, and it does not confirm the reported deaths with a figure.

The claim that the firing was meant to cover the entry of foreign militants is attributed only to the security sources. No further detail on who those militants were is given.

Background

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a province in northwest Pakistan. Antara described the area where the exchange happened as lying along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The report was written by Xinhua and published by Antara on 18 October 2026, the day after the reported clashes. Its description of events is based on the security sources' account as relayed by those two outlets.