islamabad, pakistan
AP
—
Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire late Friday along the tense border between the two countries, but no casualties or damage were reported. Both sides accused the other of provoking the clashes in violation of a fragile ceasefire signed over the past two months.
Negotiations between Kabul and Islamabad aimed at easing border tensions and maintaining a ceasefire broke down in November, but the ceasefire was largely maintained in October with a deal brokered by Qatar.
The exchange came a day after Pakistan announced it would allow the United Nations to send relief supplies to Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham border crossings, which have been largely closed for nearly two months due to escalating tensions.
Mohammad Sadiq, a local Pakistani police official, claimed that the shooting started from the Afghan side and that Pakistani forces fired back near the Chaman border crossing, a key traffic route.
In Kabul, Afghan Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of initiating the exchange.
“Unfortunately, tonight the Pakistani side once again launched an attack on Afghanistan in the Spin Boldak area of Kandahar, forcing the Islamic Emirate’s forces to respond,” President Mujahid wrote to X. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban call their government the Islamic Emirate.
Abidullah Farooqi, a spokesman for the Afghan border police, said Pakistani forces first lobbed grenades into the Supin-Boldak border area on the Afghan side, prompting a response. He said Afghanistan remained committed to the ceasefire.
“The Afghan Taliban regime has resorted to unprovoked firing along the Chaman border,” Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, told X earlier in the evening. He added that Pakistan’s armed forces remain on full alert and committed to ensuring the territorial integrity of the country and the security of its people.
Tensions escalated after deadly border clashes in October left dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants dead and hundreds more injured on both sides. Violence erupted after an explosion in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on October 9, with the Taliban government claiming responsibility on Pakistan and vowing retaliation.
The fighting between the neighboring countries was the worst in recent years. A ceasefire brokered by Qatar eased some tensions, but subsequent peace talks in Istanbul failed to reach an agreement.
Pakistan blames most militant attacks in the country on the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as TTP). Although separate from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP is closely allied with the Taliban, and relations have been further strained since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021, with many of its fighters believed to have taken refuge there.
