New Pakistan-Afghanistan Border Clashes Kill Dozens

Violence between the two neighbors has flared since explosions in Afghanistan last week, including two in the capital Kabul, that were blamed on Pakistan.

The Taliban government in Kabul launched an offensive along parts of its southern border in retaliation, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response of its own.

Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of harboring militant groups led by the Pakistani Taliban Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) on its soil, a claim Kabul denies.

In the latest violence, Pakistan's military accused the Afghan Taliban of attacking two major border posts in the southwest and northwest.

It said both assaults were repelled, with about 20 Taliban fighters killed in attacks launched near Spin Boldak on the Afghan side of the frontier in southern Kandahar province early yesterday.

"Unfortunately, the attack was orchestrated through divided villages in the area, with no regard for the civil population," the military said in a statement. 

It also said about 30 more were thought to have been killed in overnight clashes along Pakistan's northwest border.

The Afghan Taliban said 15 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in the clashes near Spin Boldak and that "two to three" of its fighters were also killed.