Afghan Taliban forces targeted “several points” in neighboring Pakistan, Afghanistan’s defense ministry said on Saturday, days after Pakistani aircraft carried out aerial bombardment inside Afghanistan.

The relations between Pakistan and Taliban-led Afghanistan have witnessed a downslide in recent times as Islamabad accuses Taliban of failing to control TTP rebels.

Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that its forces hit several points inside Pakistan in retaliation for deadly air strikes last week. A pro-Taliban media outlet, Hurriyet Daily News, reported ministry sources as saying that the strikes killed 19 Pakistani troops and that three Afghan civilians died in the violence.

A Pakistan paramilitary soldier has been killed and 11 others injured in firing by the Afghan Taliban forces at the border posts of Pakistan troops, days after strikes by Pakistan targeted the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) militants.

People celebrated Afghanistan's retaliation in the country's southeastern Khost province, according to the organizer, Rasheedullah Hamdard.

This comes after Pakistan's bombardment 'targeting hideouts of Islamist militants' earlier this week, which Taliban claimed killed civilians.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached a deadly new height as cross-border clashes erupt, leaving fatalities on both sides. The Taliban accuses Pakistan of deadly airstrikes, while Pakistan claims to have targeted militant hideouts.

Afghanistan has strongly condemned Pakistan for violating its sovereignty following a series of airstrikes on its eastern Paktika province on Tuesday night, saying at least 51 people have been killed in the attacks,

At least one Pakistani soldier has died during clashes with Afghan Taliban forces amidst heightened tensions along the de-facto border, a source in Islamabad said Saturday (Dec 28). The clashes took place overnight as militants linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) tried entering Pakistan near Kurram and North Waziristan points,