Pakistani leaders were once friends of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now, cross-border violence has become alarmingly frequent.

The Pakistani military conducted air raids potentially killed dozens while targeting alleged Pakistani Taliban militants in the rural Paktika Province of Afghanistan Tuesday night.

A Pakistani paramilitary soldier died and seven others sustained injuries during cross-border fire exchanges with Afghan forces, according to a security source on Saturday. Meanwhile, hundreds of Afghans demonstrated against the deadly Pakistani air strikes carried out last Tuesday that sparked the clashes.

STORY: Bombardment by Pakistani military aircraft in eastern Afghanistan has killed at least 46 people, most of whom were women and children, the Afghan Taliban said on Wednesday.It vowed to retaliate.

Officials say rare Pakistani airstrikes have targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighboring Afghanistan, dismantling a training facility and killing some insurgents.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which launched strikes on Pakistani military posts over the weekend, said it won’t escalate the situation but warned it will retaliate if attacked again.

The Afghan Taliban has launched a wave of artillery strikes against Pakistani checkpoints across the border, raising fears of war between the neighbouring countries.

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have reached a boiling point, with fears of escalation to an all-out war after the Taliban deployed troops to the border in response to deadly strikes and rising hostilities.

Deadly Clashes Shake the Region Hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan have intensified, resulting in the loss of at least one Pakistani security official and dozens of Afghan civilians. The violence stems from Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktia province,