Pakistani security forces killed several Afghan Taliban fighters on Thursday after Taliban militants attempted to enter Pakistani territory and attack border posts in the Gulistan sector of Balochistan (a southwestern Pakistani province bordering Afghanistan). Intermittent exchanges of fire continued past midnight, and the incident follows a broader escalation that included Pakistan conducting aerial and drone strikes on multiple locations inside Afghanistan earlier the same day in response to drone incursions near the Torkham border and Kohat. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have been mounting for months, with Pakistan repeatedly demanding that the Taliban government dismantle sanctuaries used by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups — calls that Pakistani officials say have gone unheeded.