PESHAWAR, Pakistan — PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Afghan safety forces attacked Pakistani border posts late Saturday in response to what the Taliban authorities known as repeated violations of its territory and airspace, underscoring deepening safety tensions between the neighbors. Afghan state-run media mentioned over a dozen Pakistani troopers had been killed, however there was no fast affirmation from Islamabad.
Earlier within the week, Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of bombing the capital, Kabul, and a market within the nation’s east. Pakistan didn’t declare accountability for the assault.
The Taliban authorities’s Protection Ministry mentioned early Sunday morning its forces had performed “retaliatory and profitable operations” alongside the border.
“If the opposing aspect once more violates Afghanistan’s territorial integrity, our armed forces are absolutely ready to defend the nation’s borders and can ship a robust response,” the ministry added. State-run media, RTA, mentioned the “revenge operation” had captured three Pakistani army posts, ensuing within the deaths of 15 troopers in an space bordering southern Helmand province.
The Torkham border crossing, one in all two most important commerce routes between the 2 international locations, didn’t open on Sunday at its standard time of 8 am.
Pakistan accuses Afghan authorities of harboring members of the banned group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Islamabad says the group carries out lethal assaults inside Pakistan, however Kabul denies the cost, saying it doesn’t permit its territory for use in opposition to different international locations.
Pakistan’s Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned Afghanistan for the Saturday evening gunfire, warning it will be given a “befitting reply like India,” a reference to a disaster earlier this yr that noticed the 2 nuclear-armed rivals step nearer to struggle.
Qatar’s Overseas Ministry expressed concern over the escalations and the potential repercussions for the safety and stability of the area. It urged each side to prioritize “dialogue, diplomacy and restraint.”
A senior Pakistani safety official, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to speak to the media, mentioned Afghan forces opened fireplace in a number of northwestern border areas within the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, together with the districts of Chitral, Bajaur, Mohmand, Angoor Adda and Kurram.
The official additionally mentioned troops responded with heavy weaponry close to Tirah in Khyber district and throughout the frontier in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
A second Pakistani safety official, who additionally spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to speak to the media, mentioned no less than one particular person was killed and one other wounded when a mortar shell fired from the Afghan aspect landed in Tiri village, Kurram district.
The 2 international locations share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border often known as the Durand Line, however Afghanistan has by no means acknowledged it.
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Related Press author Sajjad Tarakzai contributed to this report from Islamabad.
