Pakistan says unprovoked cross-border firing from Afghan forces kills civilians

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: At least six civilians were killed and 17 others injured on Sunday when Afghan border troops resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate fire across the border into Balochistan’s Chaman district, officials said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, said heavy weapons including artillery and mortars were used in the firing by Afghan forces.

“The Afghan Border Forces opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery and mortar onto the civilian population,” the ISPR said in a statement.

The military said the Pakistani border forces have responded through retaliatory firing. “Pakistani border troops have given befitting albeit measured response against the uncalled for aggression but avoided targeting innocent civilians in the area,” it said.

The military said the Pakistan government has approached Afghan authorities in Kabul “to highlight the severity of the situation and demanded strict action to avoid a recurrence of this incident in the future”.

The Foreign Office condemned the act, saying “such unfortunate incidents are not in keeping with the brotherly ties between the two countries”.

“The Afghan authorities have been informed that recurrence of such incidents must be avoided and strictest possible action must be taken against those responsible,” it said in a statement. It said authorities in both countries remained in contact to ensure there was no escalation of the situation.

Reuters reported, quoting unnamed Afghan security sources that the clash started after Pakistani forces demanded Afghan forces stop building a new checkpost on their side of the border.

Kandahar police spokesman Hafiz Saber said one Afghan soldier was killed and 10 other people, including three civilians, were injured.

Afghan official Noor Ahmad, in Kandahar, told Reuters the situation had returned to normal after the two sides held a meeting.

Sunday’s standoff at the border comes barely 24 hours after authorities in Pakistan said that its counterterrorism forces had intercepted four Islamic State Khorasan Province militants close to the Afghan border and killed them.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 2,600-km volatile border.

The Chaman border crossing also known as Friendship Gate connects Balochistan to Afghanistan’s Kandahar. It was closed last month after an armed Afghan crossed onto Pakistan’s side of the border and opened fire on security troops, killing a soldier and injuring another two. Islamabad has completed almost 90 percent of the fencing work along the border.

The border, known internationally as the Durand Line, was named after the British civil servant, Mortimer Durrand, who had fixed the limits of British India after consultation with the then-Afghan government in 1893.

Pakistan says unprovoked cross-border firing from Afghan forces kills civilians