Afghan Taliban officials said Tuesday (Aug. 13) at least three civilians were killed on the country's side of the border in an overnight clash with Pakistan, the victims named as a woman and two children.
Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Taliban-led interior ministry in Kabul, accused Pakistani forces of starting Monday's conflict near the Torkham border crossing.
He claimed in a statement that Pakistani forces targeted Afghan civilian homes and, in retaliation, Taliban forces destroyed two Pakistani border posts. The claim could not be verified by independent sources.
A security official in Pakistan reported that the incident had wounded three soldiers. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
The Pakistani military's media wing did not respond to questions about the border fighting and the reported casualties resulting from it.
Pakistani security officials said the Afghan side was trying to build a border post in violation of a bilateral agreement, prompting them to open fire when Taliban forces ignored warnings to halt the work.
The clashes then closed the historic Torkham border gate to all traffic between the two countries, and it remained closed on Tuesday.
This crossing is a major facility for Afghanistan to conduct trade with Pakistan and other countries.
Border Controversy
Clashes along the nearly 2,600-kilometer border that separates the two countries are frequent.
Afghanistan disputes parts of the 1893 demarcation made during British colonial rule.
Pakistan rejects Afghanistan's objections, saying it inherited international borders after gaining independence from Britain in 1947.
Cross-border terror
Monday's deadly clashes came amid rising tensions stemming from Islamabad's accusations that Kabul has failed to prevent fugitive militants from using sanctuaries on Afghan soil to plot cross-border terror attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces.
The latest attack was reported Tuesday in Pakistan's volatile border district of South Waziristan. Security sources said the pre-dawn assault killed at least four soldiers and wounded 27 others, while four attackers were also killed.
Military officials did not immediately respond to VOA's request for comment on the deadly militant attack as of press time.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, a globally designated terrorist organisation, claimed responsibility for the attack and confirmed the death of at least one of its militants in clashes with security forces.
Pakistan complains that Taliban government forces in Afghanistan facilitate TTP militants to carry out these cross-border attacks.
In its recent report, the United Nations (UN) also supported Islamabad's statement, saying that TTP members were trained and armed in Al-Qaeda-run training camps in the Afghan border areas.
Kabul denies allowing anyone to use Afghan soil to threaten neighboring countries; rejecting UN reports of the terror group's presence on its territory as propaganda against the Islamic government, which was formed in August 2021 and is not recognized by the world. (th/jm)
