Afghanistan’s Taliban officials said Tuesday that at least three civilians were killed on their side of the border in an overnight clash with Pakistan, saying the victims are a woman and two children.
Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesperson for the Taliban-led interior ministry in Kabul, accused Pakistani forces of initiating Monday’s conflict near the busy Torkham border crossing.
He claimed in a statement that the Pakistani side targeted Afghan civilian homes and, in retaliation, Taliban forces destroyed two Pakistani border outposts. The claims could not be verified by independent sources.
A security official in Pakistan reported that the incident had injured three soldiers. He spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
The Pakistani military’s media wing did not respond to inquiries regarding the border skirmish and the reported casualties resulting from it.
Multiple Pakistani security officials said that the Afghan side attempted to construct a border post in violation of bilateral agreements, prompting them to open fire when Taliban forces ignored warnings to stop the work.
The clashes closed the historic Torkham border gate to all traffic between the two countries, and it remained closed Tuesday.
The crossing is a major facility for landlocked Afghanistan to conduct bilateral and transit trade with Pakistan and other countries.
Border controversy
Clashes along the nearly 2,600-kilometer border separating the two countries are not uncommon.
Afghanistan disputes parts of the 1893 demarcation that was established during British colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent.
Pakistan rejects Afghan objections, saying it inherited the international border after gaining independence from Britain in 1947.
Cross-border terror
Monday’s deadly clash came amid escalating mutual tensions stemming from Islamabad’s allegations that Kabul is not preventing fugitive militants from using sanctuaries on Afghan soil to plan cross-border terrorist attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces.
The latest such attack was reported Tuesday in the volatile Pakistani border district of South Waziristan. Security sources said that the predawn raid resulted in the death of at least four soldiers and injuries to 27 others, while four assailants were also killed.
Military officials did not immediately respond to VOA inquiries seeking a response to the deadly militant attack in time for publication.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, a globally designated terrorist organization, took responsibility for the attack and confirmed the death of at least one of their militants in the ensuing clashes with security forces.
Pakistan complains that Taliban government forces in Afghanistan are facilitating TTP militants to carry out cross-border attacks.
In its recent reports, the United Nations has also backed Islamabad’s assertions, saying TTP members are being trained and equipped at al-Qaida-run training camps in Afghan border areas.
Kabul denies it is allowing anyone to use Afghan soil to threaten neighboring countries, dismissing U.N. reports about terror group presence in the country as propaganda against their Islamic government, established in August 2021 and not recognized by the world.
