Four Taliban insurgents killed in Wardak clash

India on Thursday rejected Pakistan's allegations of aggravating skirmishes with Afghanistan, calling them "baseless" and accusing Pakistan of blaming others for its own misdeeds.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Afghanistan as a "state sponsor of wrongful detention" in a release on Monday. He urged the Taliban to release Americans "unjustly detained," accusing the group of using "terrorist tactics" and "hostage diplomacy" to seek policy concessions from the US.

The UN body said that from late evening on February 26 to March 5, it verified and recorded 185 civilian casualties in Afghanistan due to indirect fire and aerial attacks linked to cross-border armed clashes with Pakistan.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Wednesday, Munir made the remarks during his visit to Wana in South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where he reviewed the prevailing security situation and operational preparedness along the Western border with Afghanistan, Dawn reported.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker on Friday (local time) expressed condolences to Pakistan for the lives lost in the recent conflict with Afghanistan and affirmed support for Pakistan's right to defend itself.

The Member of the Afghan Parliament in exile, Mariam Solaimankhil, on Friday stated that Pakistan has been profiting from the "business of terrorism" and creating proxy groups, including the Taliban, which have now turned against Islamabad amid escalating cross-border clashes between the two countries.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has strongly condemned the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan over a new decree that effectively expands and legitimises the use of violence against women and children, including in homes, in the country.

Cross-border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalated sharply on Friday, with Islamabad declaring "open war" on Kabul after carrying out airstrikes in parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, further intensifying tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

The Ministry of National Defence of Afghanistan said that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliatory operations carried out along the Durand Line on Thursday.

The Taliban-led Afghan government on Thursday (local time) said that its forces had seized 19 Pakistani military outposts and killed 55 Pakistani soldiers during a major border operation, calling it a response to recent Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan soil.