Border tension flares again after ‘Kabul apology’

Civilian killed, 16 injured as Taliban forces fire mortar shells into Killi Sheikh Alam

QUETTA:

At least one person was killed and 16 others sustained injuries when the Afghan Taliban fired mortar shells inside the Pakistani territory from across the Chaman border, the second such incident in less than a week, officials and witnesses said.
Afghan Taliban fired mortar shells at Killi Sheikh Alam and Changaiz check posts.

The shelling created panic in the area.

“One civilian has been killed,” a local official in Chaman said.

Medics in the town said that at least 16 people, including women and children, were also injured.

Previously, seven Pakistani civilians were killed in cross-border shelling and gunfire near the same crossing on Sunday.

Additional Chief Secretary Zahid Saleem told Reuters that Thursday’s fighting started when Pakistani forces, repairing a portion of the border fence damaged during Sunday’s clashes came under attack.

Scores of Frontier Corps (FC) personnel had been moved towards the border after fresh clashes, eyewitnesses told The Express Tribune via telephone.
The Afghan side had also increased security on their side of the border, they added.

According to sources, the Afghan side started indiscriminate firing, targeting innocent civilians.

The Pakistani forces gave a measured response to silence the hostile fire, avoiding collateral damage.

“This shouldn't be taken as a sign of weakness – Pakistan will go all out to ensure safety of its citizens,” a source said.

Initially, the casualties were taken to the Chaman Civil Hospital, where an emergency was declared after the border clashes.

“We received 16 injured,” Chaman Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Abdul Malik Achakzai told The Express Tribune.

At least five seriously wounded people were shifted to Quetta.

“We have received five injured and the condition of two is serious,” Waseem Baig, the spokesperson for the Quetta Civil Hospital, told The Express Tribune.

“It was an unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban at the border,” Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove said in a statement, adding that the security forces had been directed to tighten security at the border.

The minister condemned the cross-border attack, expressing sympathies with the victims’ families.

Sources in Islamabad also confirmed that the latest clashes between the two sides were linked to the fencing that Pakistan had erected along the Afghan border to regulate the movement of people.

Like the previous Afghan governments, the Taliban regime too is opposed to the fencing.

A retired diplomat while speaking on the condition of anonymity said that the situation was grave and part of the problem was that there had been no proper coordination and communication between the two sides to prevent these incidents.

After Sunday’s clashes, Pakistan had lodged a strong protest with Afghanistan. When asked about the border tension, the Foreign Office spokesperson said that the matter had been handled at an appropriate level and discussions were ongoing between the two sides at various levels.

It is widely perceived that Pakistan always facilitated the Afghan government, hoping for reciprocity which seems to be lacking.

Apparently, it seems, the sources pointed out, the Afghan interim government had not given “due diligence” to Pakistan’s concerns.

The latest clashes in Chaman also followed an attack on the Pakistan ambassador to Kabul earlier this month. The sources said that Afghan government was not being able to comply with its obligations towards the international community about the security measures at highly sensitive diplomatic areas.

The sources pointed out that Pakistan had been requesting 40 visas for the requisite diplomatic security staff, which had not been granted by the Afghan side so far.

On the other hand, they said, the Indian High Commission had been facilitated for a potent staff and stringent security mechanism.

“Such discriminatory measures don't go well in the diplomatic community,” a source said on condition of anonymity. “Pakistan expects the Afghan government will fulfil its international obligations and ensure that the Afghan soil is not used for any hostile activity against Pakistan and such incidents are not repeated in the future.”

(With input from our Islamabad correspondent)