Pakistan would bear the responsibility for "any consequences" in case of further attacks on Afghanistan, says the Afghan foreign ministry. PHOTO: REUTERS
Pakistani officials accused the Afghans for starting the recent series of clashes which has claimed the lives of two people, one Pakistani soldier and one Afghan border police.
“Our post was fired upon, injuring one person. The post has been there for a number of years,” Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said.
"They fired mortars and automatic weapons," one Pakistan official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "Our troops responded with retaliatory fire. The exchange of fire continues at intervals," a second official said, also on condition of anonymity
Chaudhry said the leadership of both countries has agreed on the need to have an effective mechanism in place for cross-border management.
Kabul lodges formal protest
Exchanges of fire and protests have threatened to worsen strained relations between Kabul and Islamabad, despite renewed efforts last month by US Secretary of State John Kerry to get them to work more closely on peace efforts. The Afghan foreign ministry on Monday said it summoned the Pakistani charge d'affairs to protest the alleged "unprovoked attack by Pakistani forces".
Pakistan would bear the responsibility for "any consequences" in case of further attacks on Afghanistan, it said in a statement. On the edge of the Afghan capital, more than 2,000 people, mostly villagers, demonstrated and chanted "Death to Pakistan!" while around 3,000 students held a similar rally in the eastern province of Khost that borders Pakistan.
Cross-border clashes flared earlier Monday between Afghan and Pakistani security forces for a second time in five days as Kabul and Islamabad engaged in a war of words over the porous frontier, officials said. Afghanistan and Pakistan are in dispute over a site where Pakistan has tried to construct a gate on what Afghans claim is their territory.
Clashes last Wednesday in the same spot killed an Afghan guard and wounded two Pakistanis. The border is unmarked in places and a key battleground in the fight against Taliban violence plaguing both countries. Afghanistan and Pakistan are both US allies in its battle against militants.
"Today the Pakistanis returned to the construction site and said they will rebuild the installations," said Afghan interior ministry spokesperson, Sediq Sediqqi. "Our border police told them not to do so. The Pakistanis fired at them and our police returned fire. The fighting lasted for two hours before the Pakistanis requested a ceasefire," the spokesperson added.
He told AFP the clashes had since stopped and the Pakistani border guards had left the site of the construction.
Kabul accuses Islamabad of playing a double game in supporting Taliban insurgent attacks on US and Afghan troops. Pakistan denies the allegations and is locked in its own battle against the Pakistani Taliban. On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the cross-border clashes could be an attempt by Islamabad to put pressure on Kabul to accept the "Durand Line", the disputed border which Afghans do not accept.
Pakistan's foreign ministry dismissed Karzai's remarks and said "opening discussions on this issue" was a "distraction from the more pressing issues requiring the priority attention and cooperation of Pakistan and Afghanistan". It said Pakistan's post had come under attack and complained about "several threatening and provocative statements" from the Afghan leadership. Pakistan, which backed Afghanistan's 1996-2001 Taliban regime, is seen by the West as having a central role in negotiating a political settlement with Taliban insurgents who shelter in Pakistan's border districts.
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@Truth: That's not the point at all. Afghanistan doesn't even recognize the Durand line as a border between the two countries! Both countries have differing ideas on where the border stands. As far as Pakistan is concerned it is building a gate on its side of the border.
Afghanistan...thankless and shameless...
Mine the borders, that'll put a stop to cross-border attacks claimed by Afghans..oh wait, they dont want us to mine the borders!
Its time we get rid of illegal citizens.
Why is everybody missing the point here... The point is that Pakistani forces are going inside the Afghan territory( Afghan side of the Durand line ) and building military check posts. So what do you expect the Afghans to do ? The Pakistanis are trying the same tactic to provoke the Indians in Kashmir and they are trying this for years in Afghaniatan now and have cross the Durand line hundreds kilometres in Afghanistan during the Taliban times .
@Khan of Jandul: First of all Durand line is an Open Border so how come it is dividing the Families.??? Also remember No Ethnocentric country can exist in this modern world as your are dreaming of Pushtunistan. Moreover Where was your Islam and your stance when you were striking a deal with British. ??. Why Afghans never wage War against British who decided this line and Afghans became happy with it?? Also all over the word many fronts divide Families. In 1947 My family migrated from Punjab India and since then our family remain divided in India and in Pakistan. The modern world is a changed world and accept the new values. All Northern Europeans have blood relations but they live in their well defined boundaries. The main thing is that Actually I have met many Afghans and other than Abusing Punjabis and talking about Destruction they have nothing positive and progressive to say. This Durand line is already recognized by UN so it is the end of the Discussion. Actually the real Provocation is the attack on Pakistani soil and then calling it an Afghanistan's region. Afghans are only progressive in Hatred and blaming others and i think Pakistan should not give any importance to War Mongerer Afghanistan who after destroying themselves are looking elsewhere. Accept the Borders and move forward as Durand Line is here to stay and attacking Pakistani sides will only add to the tension in this region and nothing else.
It does seem PAK has trouble with its borders and supposedly people firing at their outposts.
LOL !! A country running on sacks full of CIA dollars is threatening Pakistan. We definitely need "Naya Pakistan". Vote PTI !!!
If the Berlin Wall was brought down and unified the Germans then so should the fictitious Durand Line created by Britain where it has no significance within the very same Pashtuns who have family members on both sides. C’mon, the old British divide and rule is outdated now, it is 21st century. All those areas taken from Afghanistan should be reverted back to the Afghans.
Pakistan must call for close air support.
Brilliantly put.
Also, if Afghanistan is not a Pashtun ethnocracy like it claims Pakistan to be a Punjabi ethnocracy, why does all this talk of "brotherhood" and "dividing lines" only extend to Pashtuns? Are Tajiks and Turkmens not qualified to call themselves Afghan? Seems like a worse fate for them than Pashtuns are claimed to have with Punjabis...
Anyway, it's Afghanistan's obsession with this line that drove it into the jaws of the Soviets, who offered them support against the SEATO/CENTO member Pakistan, and access to sea ports after Pakistan shut its ports in response to Afghan provocations in the 1950's over the Durrand line.
We all know what that alliance led to - the invasion, and destruction, of Afghanistan.
This crumbled state should rebuild before making ludicrous efforts at changing a line that hasn't shifted an inch in 67 years. Similarly Pakistan should get rid of domestic terrorists before pointing fingers at India in Kashmir.
But this is just Karzai's doing, trying to distract his population from revelations that he was being massively paid off the CIA.
Let's see how it goes. Won't go well for Afghanistan though. All these soldiers on the Pakistan side are Pashtuns from the FC and KPK units. That should tell you where their loyalties lie.
ET please tell me what rules are violated in this post?
There's something I don't understand. A majority of people in Afghanistan make up the Pashtun ethnic group, followed closely by the Tajiks, then the Uzbeks and Hazaras. . Currently the Pashtun population of Afghanistan is roughly 40% of 30 million = 12 million. Add in the Pakistan Pashtun areas and you get another 25 million Pashtuns, which will put Afghanistan's total population at 55 million and Pashtun population at (25+12)*100/55 = almost 68%. . Assuming Pashtunistan does go to Afghanistan won't that lead to a Pashtun dominated Afghanistan the same way the Punjabis dominate Pakistan? Is it in the interest of the Tajiks and other minority ethnic groups that Pashtunistan join Afghanistan?
If Pakistan is honest about working on other priority issues, it shall immediately stop all constrcution activities in the areas along the line. British imposed Durand Line is unlawful and Un-Islamic as it not only divides families and tribes who have blood relations, but it also divide Pashtun Nation. The only solution is to allow and facilitate free movement of people on both sides of the Durand Line and the areas on both sides should be economically integrated.