Pakistan-Afghanistan Border: Pakistan and Afghanistan have once again clashed on the border. There has been a shootout between Pakistani security forces and Taliban fighters at the Torkham border crossing. The movement of passengers and goods between land-locked Afghanistan and Pakistan takes place only through the Torkham border crossing. Sources have told that the border crossing was closed on Wednesday after the skirmish on the border.
According to the news agency AFP, both sides have accused each other of starting the clash. Locals told that they heard gunshots at Torkham crossing. Not only this, but when bullets started firing near this crossing near Khyber Pass, people fled from the spot after saving their lives. Pakistan’s army and Taliban fighters from Afghanistan have clashed on the border on several occasions in the past.
Taliban return escalates tensions
What was the brawl over?
Pakistan’s local official Irshad Mohammad told that Taliban fighters tried to set up a checkpost in an area which was told that no checkpost would be set up there. The official said that when objection was raised by the Pakistani side, the Taliban fighters started firing. In response to this, Pakistan’s Border Force also opened fire. He told that at present the border is closed.
What did the Taliban say?
On the other hand, the Taliban government has blamed Pakistan for the border skirmish. Qureshi Badloon, an official at the Directorate of Information and Culture in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, issued a statement on the incident. They say that the Afghan army was trying to restore its old outpost with the help of an excavator, but then the Pakistani army attacked it.
He further told that many people have been injured due to the attack. But the number of casualties has not been disclosed. According to a local police officer of Pakistan, according to the local time, the firing started at one o’clock in the afternoon. He told that at present the atmosphere is very tense and the forces on both sides are on alert mode.
Read also: Over 200 former Afghanistan military officers killed since Taliban takeover, UN report reveals
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