Pakistan, Afghanistan forces clash on border

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – The Pakistani and Afghan border forces exchanged a fresh round of firing at the southwestern border on Wednesday, state-run Pakistan Television reported.

Citing unnamed security sources, the broadcaster reported that the clash began at the Nushki border, which connects Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province with Afghanistan, during the repair of the border fence by Pakistani border forces on Wednesday morning.

Pakistani security sources claimed that the clash resulted in “heavy” losses to the Afghan border guards who had initiated the firing.

There was no immediate reaction from the Afghan side.

Sporadic clashes between troops at the Pakistan-Afghan border have been ongoing for a long time, with no respite even after the Taliban took power in the war-torn country in August 2021.

Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan share 18 border crossing points, the busiest of which are Torkham and southwestern Chaman in Balochistan province.

Afghanistan does not recognize the Durand Line – the de facto border between the two countries – on the grounds that it was created by Britain “to divide ethnic Pashtuns.”

However, Islamabad maintains that the Durand Line is a permanent border between the two neighboring countries.

The 2,640-kilometer-long (1,640-mile) border was established in 1893 in line with an agreement between India under the British colonial rule and Abdur Rahman Khan, the then-ruler of Afghanistan.​​

Pakistan raises concerns about Afghanistan-based militant groups carrying out acts of violence and terrorism across the border inside Pakistani territory- a claim that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan rejects.