ISLAMABAD — Border hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalated Saturday as their armies exchanged heavy artillery and cross-border shelling along several eastern provinces.

The flare-up followed accusations by Afghanistan’s interim Taliban administration that the Pakistani military violated its airspace over Kabul and bombed a market in the Margha region of Paktika province, near the border, on Thursday night.

Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the reported strikes but said it will take all necessary measures to protect its citizens amid a surge in militant attacks blamed on the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Pakistani security sources said that exchanges of heavy fire have been ongoing since Saturday evening along multiple border points.

“Firing along the eastern border provinces, including Khost, Nangarhar, Paktika, Paktia, Kunar and Khost, is continuing, and there are reports of some casualties but we cannot confirm the figures at the moment,” a security official said, accusing Afghan border forces of initiating the clashes.

Islamabad has yet to issue an official statement on the reported fighting along the 2,640-kilometer (1,640-mile) border.

In a brief statement, Afghanistan’s interim Defense Ministry said the Taliban launched attacks “in response to repeated violations of Afghanistan’s airspace and airstrikes carried out on Afghan territory by the Pakistani military.”

The ministry added that Afghan forces “conducted successful retaliatory operations targeting Pakistani security outposts along the Durand Line,” which concluded at midnight local time.

Videos circulating on social media appeared to show heavy artillery fire along the border.

Pakistan accuses the TTP, a coalition of several militant groups, of operating from Afghan territory and carrying out attacks inside Pakistan.

Kabul denies the allegations and insists it does not allow its soil to be used for hostile acts against its neighbor.

The renewed tensions come as Afghanistan’s interim foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, visited India, meeting with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and attending events hosted by the Vivekananda International Foundation and Darul Uloom Deoband seminary in Uttar Pradesh.

Following their meeting, Muttaqi and Jaishankar issued a joint statement in which Jaishankar thanked Afghanistan for condemning the April Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people and sparked four days of hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Islamabad on Saturday voiced “strong reservations” over the statement.

“The reference to Jammu and Kashmir as part of India is in clear violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the legal status of Jammu and Kashmir,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.— Agencies