KABUL (Dispatches) -- Taliban and Pakistani forces clashed at the Torkham border crossing on Sunday for the third time in a week.
Taliban-affiliated media also reported that Pakistani heavy artillery shelling in Shkin district of Paktika province killed one civilian and wounded two children, underscoring the fragile security situation along the Durand Line.
Local sources told Hasht-e Subh Daily that the fighting at Torkham began around noon, after Taliban fighters attempted to establish a checkpoint near the crossing but were opposed by Pakistani forces. 
The sources said humanitarian organization staff withdrew from the area following the clashes, and the Taliban evacuated a camp for Afghans deported from Pakistan, removing returnees from the site.  
The Torkham crossing is one of the main transit points for people and goods between Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 600,000 people returned to Afghanistan through Torkham between January and early October 2026, accounting for nearly 85 percent of recorded returns from Pakistan during that period. 
The latest fighting disrupted the return of Afghan migrants from Pakistan, sources said.
In a separate incident on Sunday, Taliban-affiliated media reported that Pakistani heavy artillery shelling struck the Surdag area of Shkin district in Paktika province at around 3 p.m. local time, killing one civilian and wounding two others described as children. 
The Taliban police command in Paktika said Pakistani forces targeted civilian homes in the village of Sordagh, and several houses were damaged. Pakistani officials have not commented on the reported attack.
The clashes mark the latest escalation in tensions between the two sides over border security and cross-border militancy. 
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, to operate from Afghan territory, while Kabul denies providing safe havens and says Pakistan’s security problems are an internal matter. 
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has documented more than 1,700 civilian deaths and injuries resulting from cross-border armed violence in Afghanistan between October 2025 and September 2026.
The reported confrontation comes amid repeated clashes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The Long War Journal reported that Taliban and Pakistani forces had clashed at least three times along different sections of the border since October 19, including an exchange of fire near Torkham on October 28. 
The Torkham crossing was closed for more than two weeks following fighting that began on October 11 before reopening for Afghan refugee returns and trade.