Pakistan summons Afghan diplomat over border shelling

Border tensions between the South Asian neighbours have risen for the reason that Taliban returned to energy final yr.

Army soldiers stand guard border crossing point at the border town of Chaman in Pakistan.
Troopers shield Pakistan's border with Afghanistan within the metropolis of Chaman [File: Saeed Ali Achakzai/Reuters]

Pakistan has summoned an Afghan diplomat over “unprovoked” artillery fireplace at their border as tensions have ratcheted up between the South Asian neighbours previously a number of weeks.

“Afghan Chargé d’Affaires in Islamabad was referred to as to the overseas ministry and Pakistan’s sturdy condemnation was conveyed over latest incidents of unprovoked cross-border shelling leading to a lack of life, accidents and injury to property,” the Pakistani Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned in an announcement on Friday.

“It was reiterated that safety of civilians remained the duty of each side and that recurrence of those incidents should be prevented,” it mentioned.

No less than six folks have been killed and greater than a dozen wounded on Sunday in what Pakistan mentioned was unprovoked fireplace from Afghan forces close to the southern border city of Chaman in Balochistan province. A Taliban member was killed and 10 folks have been wounded on the Afghan aspect. A second spherical of shelling wounded not less than 16 Pakistani civilians on Thursday.

Sunday’s lethal conflict is believed to have erupted over the development of a border checkpoint by Pakistan, which has been making an attempt to fence its porous border with Afghanistan.

The Taliban has objected to the fence alongside their 2,700km (1,675-mile) border, and Afghanistan has contested the British-era boundary demarcation, often called the Durand Line.

In Friday’s assertion, Pakistan mentioned it remained dedicated to “sustaining fraternal relations with Afghanistan” and described quiet borders as “intrinsic” to that goal.

Pakistani Minister of Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif informed the Nationwide Meeting that Kabul had apologised for Sunday’s incident, native media reported, however violence erupted once more 4 days later.

A Taliban stands guard at Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak
A Taliban fighter stands guard on the Spin Boldak border crossing in Afghanistan a day after shelling killed six Pakistani civilians in Chaman, a Pakistani metropolis on the opposite aspect of the border. [EPA]

Border tensions between the neighbours have risen for the reason that Taliban returned to energy in August final yr as Pakistan has alleged that armed teams resembling Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) use Afghan soil to launch assaults.

A ceasefire between Pakistan and the TTP, often known as the Pakistan Taliban, unravelled in November after almost six months. The TTP, which shares an ideology with the Afghan Taliban, has been engaged in an rebellion in opposition to Islamabad. It desires the implementation of spiritual regulation primarily based on its strict interpretation of Islam.

Afghanistan’s Taliban, which had brokered the ceasefire, denies harbouring Pakistani fighters.

1000's of individuals cross the border between Spin Boldak in Afghanistan and Chaman in Pakistan each day, together with merchants, Afghans looking for medical remedy in Pakistan and other people visiting family members.

Final month, a gunman fatally shot a Pakistani safety guard on the Chaman border crossing, resulting in its closure for per week.

A safety guard was additionally wounded by photographs fired at Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul this month in what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif referred to as “an assassination try” on the top of the mission.

Pakistan’s overseas affairs minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, visited Kabul final month to debate relations with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.

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