Pakan reports new clash with Afghan forces along northwest border | World News
A line of cargo trucks bound for Pakan is stranded on the Afghan side of the Torkham border crossing, which remained closed after clashes, in Nangarhar province, Afghanan. (AP Photo)
Clashes erupted Tuesday between Pakani and Afghan forces in a remote northwestern border region, with state-run media in Pakan accusing Afghan troops of opening “unprovoked fire” that was repulsed.
Pakani forces responded, damaging Afghan tanks and military posts, according to Pakan TV and two security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
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Tahir Ahrar, a deputy police spokesperson in Afghanan’s Khost province, confirmed the clashes but provided no further details.
This is the second time this week that the two sides have traded fire along their long border.
According to Pakan’s state-run media, Afghan forces and Pakani Taliban jointly opened fire at a Pakani post “without provocation,” prompting what the media described as a “strong response” from Pakani troops in Kurram, a drict in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Security officials said Pakan’s military also destroyed a sprawling training facility of the Pakani Taliban.
There was no immediate comment from Pakan’s military, which has been on high alert since Saturday, when both sides traded fire across multiple border regions, resulting in dozens of casualties on each side.
Although the clashes halted on Sunday after appeals from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, all border crossings between Pakan and Afghanan have remained closed.
Over the weekend, Kabul said that it targeted several Pakani military posts and killed 58 Pakani soldiers in retaliation for what it called repeated violations of Afghan territory and airspace. Pakan’s military reported lower figures, saying it lost 23 soldiers and killed more than 200 “Taliban and affiliated terrors” in retaliatory fire along the frontier.
Tensions have remained high since last week, when the Taliban government accused Pakan of carrying out airstrikes in Kabul and in an eastern market. Pakan has not acknowledged those allegations.
But Pakan has previously launched strikes inside Afghanan, saying it targets hideouts of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakan, or TTP, which is separate from but allied to the Afghan Taliban.
Pakan accuses Kabul of harboring the group, which has carried out numerous deadly attacks inside Pakan. Kabul denies the charge, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.
