ISLAMABAD (Dispatches) -- Pakistan’s military said Sunday that its forces killed 12 militants and Afghan Taliban personnel while foiling an infiltration attempt along the Afghan border in Kurram district, as Kabul reported separate clashes in eastern Paktia province.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said security forces detected a group attempting to cross from Afghanistan into Pakistan on Saturday and engaged them effectively. Afghan Taliban posts opened fire to support the infiltration attempt, triggering an intense exchange, the ISPR said.
“Skillful and precise engagement by vigilant troops resulted in the killing of twelve Khwarij and Afghan Taliban,” the ISPR statement said. Naib Subedar Hidayat Aman, 40, was killed during the firefight, the military said.
The Afghan Taliban’s 203 Mansouri Corps said separately that clashes erupted in Dand Patan district of Paktia province after Pakistani forces opened fire, prompting Taliban fighters to return fire. 
The corps claimed Pakistani forces used 14 ballistic missiles and several drones, and said the situation had returned to normal with no Taliban casualties.
Local sources reported heavy weapons were used in Paktia’s Aryob Zazi district and that some residents fled their homes. Pakistani authorities had not publicly commented on the Paktia incident at the time of reporting.
The clashes come amid worsening relations between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban authorities. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Kabul of allowing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups to operate from Afghan soil. 
The ISPR said Sunday’s incident “once again vindicates Pakistan’s objective and factual stance regarding the willful abject failure of the Afghan Taliban Regime to deny the use of Afghan soil to the terrorist organization”.
The Afghan Taliban have rejected accusations that Afghanistan is used to launch attacks against Pakistan, calling for disputes to be resolved through diplomacy.
A sanitization operation was underway in Kurram, the ISPR said, adding that the counter-terrorism campaign under the “Azm-e-Istehkam” framework would continue.