Cross-border shelling: Kabul summons Pakistani ambassador

Lodges protest over firing of artillery and rockets in Kunar province.

ISLAMABAD:

Afghanistan on Wednesday summoned Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul to lodge a formal protest over ‘rocket and artillery shelling’ from the Pakistani side of the border.

“Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Ershad Ahmadi summoned the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul, Abrar Hussain, to the foreign Ministry and lodged a strong protest over the rocket and artillery shelling in Kunar, Nuristan and other areas from the Pakistani side of the Durand Line,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.

Afghan officials claim hundreds of rockets have been fired from Pakistani territory over the last few days, killing at least one and injuring 16 others. Quoting the police chief of Kunar province, Afghan media said as many as 700 shells hit the province’s Dangam and Shegal districts, prompting over 130 families to leave the area.

“These attacks not only cause human and material losses, but also increase feelings of hate among both the people and government of Afghanistan,” the foreign ministry statement added.

Pakistan has always denied shelling civilian areas inside Afghanistan and says its forces only fire at locations on the other side of the border when Pakistani posts are targeted from those areas.

According to the statement, the Afghan deputy minister also protested against the alleged construction of bunkers by the Pakistani military inside Afghan territory – a claim that has already been rejected by Islamabad.

The Afghan government has demanded the government of Pakistan take immediate steps to stop the rocket attacks, the statement said. It added that the Pakistani ambassador described the events as unfortunate and assured Afghan authorities that he would convey their concerns to his government.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2014.