One killed, scores injured in fresh shelling by Afghan forces at Chaman border
Pakistan
One killed, scores injured in fresh shelling by Afghan forces at Chaman border
QUETTA (Dunya News) - A man was killed and more than a dozen other people were injured after Afghan border forces targeted civilian population on the Pakistan side in an unprovoked shelling near Chaman border crossing between the two countries.
Tension flared up for second time at the Chaman border, which links Pakistan s western Balochistan province with Afghanistan s southern Kandahar province, in less than a week. Afghan troops martyred six Pakistani civilians and wounded 17 others in indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons on Sunday.
A heavy gunfight took place between the Pakistan and Afghan forces after the shelling. Local administration officials said the border area was being evacuated after clashes and an emergency had been declared in DHQ Chaman. Levies officials said multiple artillery rounds were fired around the Boghra Road and Custom House areas from the Afghan side, targeting civilian population.
Authorities said the clashes erupted when Afghan forces made interventions during the repair of the fence in the Sheikh Lal Muhammad sector of the border. The fresh clashes come as US Centcom chief Gen Michael "Erik" Kurilla is visiting Pakistan and he is scheduled to lead a delegation to the Torkham border with Pakistan.
Officials said a befitting response was given by the Pakistani forces to the unprovoked shelling by the Afghan forces. Following the Dec 11 incident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killings. "The Afghan interim government should ensure that such incidents are not repeated," he said in a statement.
The foreign office, in a statement, also warned that such unfortunate incidents were not in keeping with the brotherly ties between the two countries. It also asked the Afghan authorities to take strictest possible action against the preparators. It remained the responsibility of both sides to protect civilians along the border, the foreign office said.
