Ankara: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a series of phone calls with his counterparts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to discuss the latest developments in the clashes between Islamabad and Kabul.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Fidan held separate conversations with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, and Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The discussions focused on the recent escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan and efforts to contain tensions.

On Thursday, the Afghan government announced the launch of large-scale operations targeting Pakistani military positions along the border, describing them as a retaliation for recent attacks by Islamabad. Pakistan, for its part, said its forces responded immediately to the Afghan operation. Islamabad announced on Friday that 133 Afghans were killed and more than 200 injured during its operations, while the Afghan government reported that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliatory strikes.

Earlier, Pakistan said it had carried out strikes on seven locations it described as ‘terrorist camps’ along the Afghan border, following a series of bombings inside the country. Kabul subsequently summoned Islamabad’s ambassador and lodged a formal protest, vowing a ‘timely and appropriate’ response.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan has called on the new authorities to take action against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it designates as a terrorist organization. Islamabad accuses the group of launching attacks from Afghan territory, an allegation the Afghan administration denies. The TTP is active in tribal areas along the Pashtun belt stretching across the Durand Line, a boundary drawn during the British colonial era that functions as the de facto border between the two countries.