Taliban forces killed 14 Pakistani soldiers and wounded 11 others in a coordinated assault on a border guard post along the Durand Line in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on Saturday, in one of the deadliest single incidents on the volatile border between the two countries since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Pakistan’s military confirmed the attack in a statement, saying Taliban fighters had overrun the post in a pre-dawn assault using heavy weapons. The military said it had launched a counteroperation and that forces were working to re-establish control over the area.

The Durand Line, a 2,640-kilometer boundary drawn by British colonial administrators in 1893, has been a persistent source of tension between Islamabad and successive Afghan governments. The Taliban, which has never formally recognized the border’s legitimacy, has repeatedly clashed with Pakistani forces along its length.

Pakistani authorities summoned the Taliban’s diplomatic representative in Islamabad to lodge a formal protest, demanding an immediate ceasefire and accountability for what officials described as a deliberate act of aggression. The Foreign Ministry called the attack a gross violation of international norms and warned of consequences.

Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban government in Kabul have deteriorated significantly over the past year, driven by disputes over the Durand Line, the continued presence of the Pakistani Taliban militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan on Afghan soil, and a series of cross-border attacks that have claimed dozens of Pakistani lives.

The Taliban government in Kabul had not issued a comment on the incident by Saturday afternoon. In the past, the Afghan administration has either denied responsibility for specific incidents or framed them as defensive actions against Pakistani military provocation.

The attack prompted protests in several Pakistani cities, where opposition figures and military families called on the government to take stronger action against Taliban encroachments. The civilian death toll from cross-border attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had already fueled public anger in recent months.

Pakistan’s military had previously launched artillery and air strikes against Taliban positions across the border in response to earlier incidents. Such responses had drawn sharp criticism from Kabul, which accused Islamabad of violating Afghan sovereignty, while failing to deter further attacks.

International observers have repeatedly warned that the Pakistan-Afghanistan border remains one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, with the potential for rapid escalation that could destabilize an already fragile region. The United Nations and regional powers including China and Saudi Arabia had offered to facilitate dialogue between the two governments, but those efforts had not produced tangible results.

The incident added further complexity to Pakistan’s already difficult security environment, as the country simultaneously managed internal economic pressures, ongoing counterterrorism operations in the tribal belt, and its efforts to navigate the broader geopolitical landscape shaped by the U.S.-Iran conflict unfolding to its west.