Morning Brief: Trump to Pay Troops, Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Overnight Border Operation, Hamas Ready to Release 20 Living Hostages

Taliban Says 58 Pakistani Soldiers Killed as Border Erupts; Pakistan Shuts Crossings

The Durand Line lit up overnight. Kabul says its forces stormed 25 Pakistani military posts and killed 58 soldiers in a sweeping border operation. Islamabad disputes the toll and says it hit Afghan positions hard in return. What is clear is this fight moved fast from sporadic shots to heavy fire and real consequences on both sides.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid framed the push as retaliation for what Kabul calls repeated violations of Afghan airspace and territory earlier in the week, including strikes near Kabul and in the east. Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense called the action successful and said its units now hold the targeted posts. Pakistan pushed back with artillery and small arms and has not confirmed Afghan claims on casualties. Independent confirmation is scarce in that terrain.

The immediate fallout hit trade and travel. Pakistan closed key crossings on Sunday morning, including Torkham and Chaman, choking routine commerce and the daily movement of people who rely on those gates. Gunfire tapered by midday, though intermittent shots still crackled in Kurram. Kabul says its forces remain on alert and warned that further mistakes by Pakistan will bring harsher replies.

This clash did not happen in a vacuum.

Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, known as TTP, which targets the Pakistani state.

Kabul rejects the charge. In recent months, Pakistan has carried out or has been accused of carrying out strikes inside Afghanistan aimed at TTP figures, incidents that Kabul says killed civilians. That back and forth set conditions for this sharp spike. Regional actors, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, urged restraint to head off a wider slide.

Here is what to watch next. If both governments lean into maximalist narratives on casualty counts and captured ground, expect another round along this mountainous frontier. If crossings stay shut, the economic pressure will mount fast on both sides, from truckers to small traders. The real test is whether hotheads on either side pull the trigger again or whether commanders can keep a brittle ceasefire while diplomats work the phones.

Bottom line. Afghanistan claims a major tactical success. Pakistan denies the scale and signals it is ready to punch back. The facts will sort out in time, but the risk is present now.

This border is a fuse, and it is already burning.

DG ISPR had already made it clear that any kind of adventurism in Pakistan would not be tolerated, and our security will never be left in the hands of Afghanistan. But they didn’t listen — and now they’ve lost control of 19 border posts. pic.twitter.com/5W02DGatql

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— The Pakistan Telegraph (@TelegraphPak) October 12, 2025 Hamas Signals It Will Hand Over 20 Living Hostages—Israel Braces For A Monday Handover. Hamas told Arab mediators it is ready to release 20 living hostages. Israeli officials said they can receive them today, though sources on both sides caution that Monday is slightly more likely because of logistics. This is the first formal confirmation from Hamas that it holds 20 living captives, a figure that tracks with Israeli estimates. The transfer sits inside a wider ceasefire and prisoner swap. Under the deal, Hamas has a 72-hour window after Israeli units pull back to an agreed line in Gaza to hand over all remaining hostages, living and deceased. In return, Israel will free about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and expand humanitarian aid. The International Committee of the Red Cross is set to coordinate movements and identification at designated sites with Israeli medical teams on standby. Timing is the hardest part. Communications in Gaza are battered, identity checks are slow by design, and Hamas’s decision-making has been chaotic after years of war. Israeli and international officials are signaling optimism for a Monday morning start while stressing that the process must be precise to prevent errors that could derail the exchange. Washington, Cairo, and others see the planned release as a hinge moment. President Donald Trump is slated to address the Knesset and then join a Sharm el Sheikh summit that Egypt is convening to lock in the ceasefire and set the political track for Gaza relief and reconstruction. Attendance lists include more than twenty leaders and top officials. The optics matter, and so does the sequence. Get the hostages home first. Then move prisoners, trucks, and money. Only then will talks about Gaza governance have a chance to stick. Here is what to watch. If the first tranche moves without incident, momentum builds for additional returns and the handover of remains with dignity. If there is a hitch at a crossing or a dispute over names, the window narrows fast. Families on both sides have waited through two years of trauma. A clean execution of this exchange will not heal the wound, but it can stop the bleeding. Bottom line. Twenty living Israelis may come home within hours. The prisoner releases and aid surge would follow in phases. The summit in Egypt is designed to turn a fragile ceasefire into an actionable plan. Success depends on disciplined choreography from all parties. 🚨🎗️BREAKING: The hostages will be released today between 7:00 PM and midnight Israeli time. pic.twitter.com/FC9ovX1gsm — Eli Afriat 🇮🇱🎗 (@EliAfriatISR) October 12, 2025 Trump Orders Troop Pay To Land On Time Despite Shutdown. Pentagon Taps R&D Cash. Troops will see money in their accounts on Wednesday, October 15. President Donald Trump said he told the Pentagon to use all available funds to keep military pay on schedule, even as the federal government remains shut. He posted the order on Saturday and repeated it through the weekend. The Defense Department plans to pull roughly eight billion dollars from unobligated research and development accounts to cover the payroll. This buys time, not peace. The shutdown began on October 1 and has rolled into an eleventh day while Congress argues over a broader spending deal. The White House move shields about 1.3 million active duty service members. It does not extend to hundreds of thousands of unpaid civilian federal workers who keep bases, labs, and depots humming. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth now owns the execution piece. He has the latitude to lean on unexpired, unobligated accounts inside procurement and research lines. That is standard shutdown guidance. The Antideficiency Act still looms. It bars new obligations without appropriations except in narrow cases tied to safety, protection of property, or constitutional duties. That tension explains why lawyers are reading every comma while finance teams prep the transfer. Politically, this move removes a pressure point that often forces action on Capitol Hill. If troops get paid on time, some lawmakers will feel less heat to cut a deal. That could stretch the shutdown and deepen the pain for civilians who support warfighters and for the small businesses that live off base traffic. The administration signaled it is prioritizing pay for those in uniform first, period. What it means at the kitchen table is simple. Units will keep training and deploying. Families can cover rent and groceries on the fifteenth. The worry shifts to what comes next if the standoff drags on and one-time fixes run out. Pentagon guidance allows work to continue in activities funded with unobligated, unexpired balances, but once those balances hit zero, programs stop unless they are excepted for safety or national security. Bottom line. The commander in chief ordered the Pentagon to bridge the gap so pay hits on October 15. The dollars exist inside R&D accounts to do it once. The legal and political fights will continue until Congress passes a bill and the lights come back on. Trump authorizes our Secretary of War to pay our troops. pic.twitter.com/rf3uP6kOgU — elENoCHle (@NewsBlast17) October 11, 2025