Pakistan, Afghanistan lock horns again as 5 killed in fresh border clashes

In fresh flare-up between Afghanistan and Pakistan, four civillians and one solider was reportedly killed on the Afghan side in an an overnight exchange of gunfire and shelling.

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Five other civilians were wounded, AFP quoted Afghan government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat as saying. Three people reportedly suffered minor injuries during the fighting that lasted until dawn on Saturday.

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Pakistani officials said said three people, including a woman, were wounded in the shooting and shelling that came from the Afghan side.

Officials from both sides accused each other of instigating the flare-up late on Friday night across the border in the Balochistan province.

Pakistani officials said that Afghan forces had fired mortar shells on the Badani area, while Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accised Paksitan of launching an attack on Spin Boldak and said that the Afghan forces were responding.

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"Unfortunately, tonight, the Pakistani side started attacking Afghanistan in Kandahar, Spin Boldak district, and the forces of the Islamic Emirate were forced to respond," Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X late Friday.

Pakistan said Afghan forces fired first.

"A short while ago, the Afghan Taliban regime resorted to unprovoked firing" along the border, Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistan's prime minister, said on X.

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Ali Mohammed Haqmal, head of Kandahar's information department, said that Pakistani forces attacked with "light and heavy artillery" and that mortar fire had struck civilian homes.

The relations between the two South Asian neighbours hit rock bottom in October when deadly clashes broke out between the forces along the border. Dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants were killed, while hundreds were injured on both sides. The escalation erupted following twin explosions in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on October 9. The Taliban government accused Pakistan for orchestrating the attack as it vowed to avenge.

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The fighting has been the worst between the neighbors in recent years following which Qatar intervened and mediated peace between the two. While a ceasefire is in place, multiple rounds of peace talks fell flat to bring truce between the Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan has blamed Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, for recent militant attacks in the country. Though separate from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP is closely allied with it, and many of its fighters are believed to have taken refuge in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power there in 2021, further straining relations.

(With inputs from agencies)

Source: Hindustan Times
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