Afghan and Pakistani forces attacked each other along their shared border on Tuesday, with their officials blaming each other for the violence. reports TASR according to the Reuters and AFP agencies.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister said the “unprovoked firing” along the Pakistan-Afghan border was initiated by Afghan Taliban officials. “Pakistani security forces responded promptly and effectively and silenced the Taliban’s aggression,” the spokesman confirmed, adding that any further provocation would be “immediately and severely” punished.
Afghan officials said that Pakistani forces opened fire and Afghan troops responded. The director of the Department of Information and Culture in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province confirmed that the fighting has stopped and Kabul has not reported any casualties during the conflict.
A security official in the city of Peshawar told AFP anonymously that there were no casualties on the Pakistani side either. Clashes along the 2,600-kilometer shared border between Afghanistan and Pakistan also took place over the weekend.
Islamabad said its airstrikes targeted the Pakistani branch of the Taliban movement (Tehrikeh Taliban Pakistan, TTP) and the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Afghanistan. According to the security forces, at least 70 militants died. The UN mission in Afghanistan reported that at least 13 civilians were killed during the attacks.
Relations between the neighboring countries have deteriorated significantly in recent months. Land border crossings have been largely closed since a firefight in October that killed more than 70 people on both sides. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of not taking action against militant groups it says are carrying out attacks in Pakistan. Kabul has long denied these accusations.
