Tensions rise as Pakistan and Afghanistan trade accusations on the shooting of civilians near Chaman.
One civilian has reportedly died and 12 others have been hurt in the continuing border conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is a significant development.
According to Pakistani authorities, mortar fire from Afghan Taliban forces on Thursday toward civilians near the southwest Chaman border crossing resulted in at least one death and 20 injuries, including women and children. This incident reflects rising tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
The most recent violence comes after a string of violent incidents and assaults that have recently strained ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban leaders. The cause of the fire near Chaman, a crucial trading route between the two sides, was not immediately known.
Days earlier, Taliban forces shelled across the border, killing an Afghan Taliban fighter and seven Pakistani civilians. There was no available military spokesperson for immediate reaction.
Mortar fire along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border results in 4 deaths and 20 injuries.
The fire was started, according to local security sources in Chaman, by Afghan Taliban who targeted Pakistani soldiers who were mending a section of the broken border fence. Residents reported hearing occasional gunfire exchanges late on Thursday near the Chaman border, also known as Friendship Gate.
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Thursday afternoon saw the closure of the crossing.
The Taliban government's defence ministry spokesman in Kabul, Enayatullah Khawarazmi, claimed Pakistan started the fire and claimed that "the Islamic Emirate believes discussion as a legitimate method to settle any situation."
On the Afghan side of the border, whether there were any casualties remained unknown.
At least 21 people were injured as a result of the skirmishes, according to Akhtar Mohammad, a doctor at a hospital in Chaman, one of whom eventually passed away. Seven women and children who were hit when mortar shells struck their homes were among the wounded, he claimed, some of whom were in severe condition.
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The fatalities were also confirmed by Abdul Hameed Zehri, a government official in the Pakistani town of Chaman in the province of Baluchistan's southwest. Without providing any information, security authorities said that Pakistan's army had retaliated to the Afghan firing.
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According to Pakistani officials, a lorry near Chaman was struck by mortar rounds fired by the Taliban. They charged that the Afghan Taliban forces had deliberately targeted civilians.
Later, the officials said that the fire had died down and that Pakistani authorities were speaking with the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan to stop a further escalation.
In August 2021, the Taliban overthrew Kabul's government and gained control of the rest of Afghanistan as U.S. and NATO forces prepared to withdraw from the country after 20 years of conflict.
Since then, tensions between the two neighbours have flared mostly because of ongoing disagreements around Pakistan's building of a barrier along their shared border. Since Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan's new army chief, took over on November 29 to replace Qamar Javed Bajwa, incidents of militant strikes on Pakistani security forces have also escalated.
Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of the United States Central Command, visited Pakistan on Thursday and met with Munir in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, according to a military release. The two talked about a variety of topics, including regional security cooperation and stability. According to the statement, the CENTCOM commander also travelled to the border town of Torkham in northwest Pakistan, which is close to Afghanistan.
Pakistan's embassy in Kabul was shot at earlier this month in an attack that the Islamic State organisation later claimed responsibility for. Officials from Pakistan described the incident as an assault on their representative there at the time. Islamabad has also claimed that the Taliban government in Afghanistan is providing refuge to militants who carry out fatal assaults on Pakistani territory.
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