Pakistani Media Report Five Soldiers Killed in Clash with Taliban in Khost
Pakistani media, citing sources, reported that five Pakistani soldiers were killed and three wounded by fire from Taliban forces in a border clash near the Ghulam Khan crossing in Gerbaz district of Khost province, which borders North Waziristan in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The clash was said to have been initiated by Taliban forces, with Pakistani border guards responding, and shooting was ongoing as of the reports. Neither Pakistani nor Taliban officials have issued official statements on the incident.
The border clashes between Pakistani forces and the Taliban have now lasted 21 days, raising concerns over escalating violence.
The reports come amid conflicting accounts of Pakistani airstrikes on Kabul on Monday night. Taliban officials claimed a drug addicts' treatment center was targeted, with at least 400 people killed and 250 wounded, though the figures have not been independently verified.
Pakistani officials denied targeting the center, stating the strikes hit ammunition depots nearby and accused the Taliban of setting the facility ablaze themselves, a claim the Taliban reject.
Sources also said a Taliban Ministry of Defense munitions depot in Kabul's district 8 was targeted, with fire and smoke rising for hours and unable to be controlled by fire trucks.
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