Pakistani, Afghan border forces clash over check post construction

ISLAMABAD (AA) – Pakistani and Afghan security forces once again clashed at the border after the Afghan Taliban attempted to build a check post, Afghan media reported.

Heavy firing took place between two countries’ security forces in the Zazi district of Khost province in eastern Afghanistan, Tolo News reported.

“Clashes erupted between the Islamic Emirate’s border forces and Pakistan army near the Durand Line,” the broadcaster quoted interim Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarizmi as saying.

However, there have been no reports of casualties from either side.

The clash occurred after Afghan border forces began building a checkpoint and Pakistani forces allegedly opened fire to stop the construction, he said.

So far, no statement has been issued by the Pakistani army.

Last month, Torkham, a key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, was closed for three days following skirmishes between the two countries’ forces.

The Torkham border, which connects Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, is one of the two main crossings between Islamabad and Kabul.

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 accuses Afghanistan of failing to stop terror attacks by the Pakistani Taliban and other Taliban-allied Afghanistan-based groups inside Pakistani territory.