ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Sunday that it had killed at least 58 Pakistani soldiers in a proclaimed retaliatory overnight border operation, after it accused Islamabad of carrying out airstrikes in its territory.

The Afghan operation is in response to a strike on its capital on Thursday night, for which the government blamed Pakistan. Kabul also accused its neighbor of a previous attack in the eastern city of Paktika. Islamabad has not claimed the attacks as of the time of writing this article. 

The Taliban government’s chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that their army has been able to seize 25 posts belonging to the Pakistani army, killing 58 soldiers and wounding 30 more. The figure, however, has not yet been confirmed by Pakistan. 

“The situation on all official borders and de facto lines of Afghanistan is under complete control, and illegal activities have been largely prevented,” Mujahid told reporters in Kabul. 

The escalations have sparked fear in the region, with the foreign ministries of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Iran having already expressed concern over the tensions, urging restraint from both sides. 

Afghanistan in late December launched similar reprisals for a Pakistani operation aiming to destroy a training center and kill insurgents in the city of Paktika. The Taliban government said that the December attack had killed 46 people, most of whom were women and children.