QUETTA: Cross-border shelling and gunfire between Afghanistan and Pakistan killed eight Pakistani civilians and one Afghan soldier on Sunday, officers on either side of the frontier stated, with all sides accusing the opposite of beginning the combating.
The Pakistan military stated Afghan border forces had opened “unprovoked and indiscriminate hearth of heavy weapons together with artillery/mortar on to the civilian inhabitants” on the Chaman border crossing, which hyperlinks Pakistan’s western Balochistan province with Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province.
Six civilians had been killed and 17 wounded on the Pakistani aspect by Afghan hearth, main Pakistani troops to retaliate, the Pakistan navy stated in an announcement on Sunday.
The dying toll rose to eight on Monday as two injured, together with a 10-year-old boy, died in a hospital within the southwestern Pakistani metropolis of Quetta, the place that they had been introduced for therapy, hospital official Wasim Baig stated.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated the killings “deserve the strongest condemnation”.
“The Afghan interim authorities ought to make sure that such incidents aren’t repeated,” he stated in an announcement.
Haji Zahid, a spokesman for Kandahar’s governor, stated the combating started after Pakistan objected to Afghan forces constructing a brand new checkpoint.
“They did not need us to construct these posts on our aspect of the border,” he stated, including it led to a two-hour lengthy gun battle.
Kandahar police spokesman Hafiz Saber stated one Afghan soldier was killed and 10 folks, together with three civilians, had been wounded.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have for many years had territorial disputes at their border and the Chaman crossing was closed for a number of days after related clashes final month.
Chaman is the second-largest business border level between the 2 nations after Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It’s a important supply of customs income for the cash-strapped administration in Afghanistan.
It was closed for weeks in October by Pakistani authorities due to safety threats and disputes over points starting from Covid-19 to the validity of Afghan journey paperwork.
The crossing was closed for some hours on Sunday earlier than reopening, officers on either side stated.
“Such unlucky incidents aren’t consistent with the brotherly ties between the 2 nations,” Pakistan’s overseas workplace stated, including that Afghan authorities had been instructed {that a} recurrence have to be averted.
Afghan overseas ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi stated on Twitter on Monday that the repetition of border clashes was “regrettable”.
The Taliban-run Afghan administration referred to as on the Pakistani aspect take steps to stop “provocations that trigger violence and adversely have an effect on relations between the nations”, he stated.
The Pakistan military stated Afghan border forces had opened “unprovoked and indiscriminate hearth of heavy weapons together with artillery/mortar on to the civilian inhabitants” on the Chaman border crossing, which hyperlinks Pakistan’s western Balochistan province with Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province.
Six civilians had been killed and 17 wounded on the Pakistani aspect by Afghan hearth, main Pakistani troops to retaliate, the Pakistan navy stated in an announcement on Sunday.
The dying toll rose to eight on Monday as two injured, together with a 10-year-old boy, died in a hospital within the southwestern Pakistani metropolis of Quetta, the place that they had been introduced for therapy, hospital official Wasim Baig stated.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated the killings “deserve the strongest condemnation”.
“The Afghan interim authorities ought to make sure that such incidents aren’t repeated,” he stated in an announcement.
Haji Zahid, a spokesman for Kandahar’s governor, stated the combating started after Pakistan objected to Afghan forces constructing a brand new checkpoint.
“They did not need us to construct these posts on our aspect of the border,” he stated, including it led to a two-hour lengthy gun battle.
Kandahar police spokesman Hafiz Saber stated one Afghan soldier was killed and 10 folks, together with three civilians, had been wounded.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have for many years had territorial disputes at their border and the Chaman crossing was closed for a number of days after related clashes final month.
Chaman is the second-largest business border level between the 2 nations after Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It’s a important supply of customs income for the cash-strapped administration in Afghanistan.
It was closed for weeks in October by Pakistani authorities due to safety threats and disputes over points starting from Covid-19 to the validity of Afghan journey paperwork.
The crossing was closed for some hours on Sunday earlier than reopening, officers on either side stated.
“Such unlucky incidents aren’t consistent with the brotherly ties between the 2 nations,” Pakistan’s overseas workplace stated, including that Afghan authorities had been instructed {that a} recurrence have to be averted.
Afghan overseas ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi stated on Twitter on Monday that the repetition of border clashes was “regrettable”.
The Taliban-run Afghan administration referred to as on the Pakistani aspect take steps to stop “provocations that trigger violence and adversely have an effect on relations between the nations”, he stated.
