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Fresh hostilities broke out along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier early on Wednesday morning, with both parties blaming the opposing side of starting lethal clashes.

The Pakistani armed forces announced that its forces had eliminated "fifteen to twenty Taliban fighters" and injured many in the Spin Boldak district border district.

A Taliban government spokesman said that 12 non-combatants had been killed and over a hundred wounded by Pakistani firing. He further stated that several Pakistani soldiers had been killed. None of the reported fatalities could be independently confirmed.

Hostilities between the neighbors has escalated since blasts rocked Afghanistan last week, which Kabul blamed on Pakistan. The Taliban reject allegations that it is harboring armed groups aiming at Pakistan.

Social Media and Military Confrontations

The two sides are not only battling for the upper hand on the frontier, but also on social media, attempting to persuade the general population that their side is inflicting more damage.

The most recent fighting come after severe border confrontations over the weekend, when the Afghan forces claimed to have eliminated 58 members of the Islamabad's armed forces and Islamabad reported it killed 200 "Taliban and affiliated insurgents". The claimed death tolls provided by both parties could not be independently verified.

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

Local Accounts and Consequences

Videos allegedly of the conflict and its aftermath have been shared on the internet and on social channels, including images said to be of those deceased and blurry shots from low-light cameras claiming to be of guard positions destroyed. These recordings have not been verified.

A source in Spin Boldak in Afghanistan stated that clashes erupted at around 04:00 local time (23:30 GMT on the previous day). Another resident in the district, who lives about a short distance away from the frontier post, said that "intense hostilities persisted for almost five hours".

"I see drones and fighter planes flying over us, some of our family members are injured," they added.

A doctor in one of the hospitals in Spin Boldak reported that he tallied "7 fatalities and 36 wounded brought to the medical center", including males, females and children.

The circumstances were "tense" and additional casualties were being transferred to medical care, he noted.

Evacuations and Global Responses

A local Taliban official in the area announced that "hundreds of households have been forced to flee since last night due to the intense fighting". He said they were on "high alert" after a several military positions were attacked by Pakistani jets. He added that they had the bodies of 2 armed forces members.

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

The hostilities have prompted appeals for reduced tensions from foreign nations including Beijing and Moscow, as well as a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that he could step in to broker a ceasefire.

On Wednesday, 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 displacement because of the clashes.

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

Long-Standing Disputes

Islamabad has for years accused the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistani militants to function from their territory and fight against the Pakistani administration in an effort to impose a strict Islamic-led system of governance.

The Afghan Taliban government has consistently denied this.