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New fighting erupted along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier early on Wednesday morning, with each side blaming the other of initiating deadly confrontations.

The Pakistani armed forces announced that its forces had killed "15-20 Taliban fighters" and wounded many in the Spin Boldak district border district.

A Taliban government spokesman claimed that 12 non-combatants had been fatally struck and more than 100 injured by artillery from Pakistan. He added that several Pakistani soldiers had been lost their lives. None of the alleged fatalities could be independently confirmed.

Hostilities between the neighbouring countries has flared since blasts rocked Afghanistan last week, which the Afghan capital attributed on Islamabad. The Taliban reject claims that it is sheltering armed groups targeting Pakistan.

Social Media and Military Confrontations

The two sides are not only fighting for the upper hand on the frontier, but also on digital platforms, attempting to convince the general population that their faction is inflicting more damage.

The most recent clashes come after severe border confrontations over the past few days, when the Taliban claimed to have eliminated fifty-eight members of the Islamabad's armed forces and Pakistan said it killed two hundred "Taliban and affiliated terrorists". The claimed casualty figures announced by each side could not be confirmed by external sources.

A few days of unstable calm that had lasted since the weekend were shattered on Wednesday morning.

On-the-Ground Accounts and Impact

Videos allegedly of the fighting and its aftereffects have been shared online and on social channels, including footage said to be of those deceased and grainy shots from night vision cameras purporting to be of check posts demolished. These videos have not been verified.

A informant in the border area in Afghanistan stated that clashes broke out at around 4 a.m. local time (23:30 GMT on Tuesday). Another local in the district, who lives about one kilometre away from the frontier post, reported that "intense clashes continued for almost five hours".

"I see unmanned aircraft and fighter planes flying over us, a number of our relatives are injured," they said.

A medical professional in one of the medical facilities in Spin Boldak stated that he counted "7 bodies and 36 injured brought to the medical center", including men, women and minors.

The situation were "tense" and additional casualties were being transferred to hospital, he said.

Displacement and Global Responses

A regional Taliban official in Spin Boldak announced that "hundreds of households have been displaced since the previous evening due to the heavy fighting". He mentioned they were on "maximum readiness" after a several military positions were targeted by Pakistani jets. He added that they had the bodies of two Pakistani military members.

In a separate overnight clash on the north-western border, the Pakistani military said that twenty-five to thirty Taliban and Pakistani Taliban fighters were "suspected" to have been killed.

The clashes have prompted calls for reduced tensions from other countries including Beijing and Moscow, as well as a suggestion from the American leader that he could intervene to facilitate peace.

On Wednesday, Richard Bennett, UN special rapporteur on the conditions of human rights in Afghanistan, wrote on a social media platform that he was "deeply concerned" by reports of civilian casualties and displacement because of the fighting.

"I urge everyone involved to exercise maximum restraint, protect non-combatants, and abide by international law," he stated.

Long-Standing Tensions

Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of permitting the Pakistani militants to function from their land and battle against the Pakistani administration in an effort to impose a strict religion-based system of governance.

The Afghan Taliban government has consistently rejected this.