Pakistan-Taliban border clash kills 4, wound 3

• 

A border clash took place on Sunday between the Taliban and the Pakistani armed forces at a border crossing in the bordering Afghan town of Spin Boldak, leaving four dead and three others injured, a local source told Russian news agency Sputnik.

Reportedly, "The clash between the two sides occurred on Sunday, December 11, at the Spin Boldak border crossing."

In total, the skirmishes killed four people and injured three others, the source told Sputnik, adding that the situation in the area had been stabilized.

This comes after the Taliban in Pakistan said in late November that they called off the fragile ceasefire in place since June after the group reached a deal with the government in June, directing its fighters to carry out attacks across the country.

Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a separate entity from the Taliban in Afghanistan that shares a similar ideology with the group. It has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that have been ripping through Pakistan since the group's emersion in 2007.

The group's fighters have been mostly forced out of Pakistan into neighboring Afghanistan. They have been pouring into the country since 2010, though they have seen a bolstering of their status in light of the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan late last year.

The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in August following an incredibly chaotic withdrawal of US troops and the end of the US occupation of the country.

The TTP had agreed with the Pakistani government on a ceasefire in June. However, both parties have made several claims that the truce was ignored, with numerous clashes taking place.

Relations between the US and Pakistan have been on the decline since the US pulled out its forces from Afghanistan, especially after the US blamed Pakistan for having aided the Taliban in regaining power, something that former Prime Minister Imran Khan harshly condemned.

After the ceasefire agreement between the Pakistani government and the TTP, then-Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that his country did not recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

The political and economic unrest in Pakistan has had a significant negative influence on Afghanistan. In addition, problems like recurrent border closures and ongoing hostilities along Durand Line have restricted trade into Kabul.

Pakistan's political turmoil has started to affect its deteriorating economic state, making the circumstances very difficult and pitiful. Anger and dissatisfaction among the populace are at an all-time high. While people's purchasing power is rapidly declining, inflation is surging.