ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state media this week alleged that Afghan forces resorted to “unprovoked shelling” across the border, forcing Islamabad to respond as bilateral tensions surge.
Already strained ties between Islamabad and Kabul worsened this week after Afghanistan accused Pakistan of launching overnight strikes within its territory on Tuesday that killed 10 civilians. Pakistan’s military denied it had done so.
Pakistan alleges the Afghan Taliban government in Kabul facilitates cross-border attacks by providing sanctuaries to Pakistani Taliban militants or the TTP. Kabul rejects the allegations. Pakistan’s military spokesperson this week accused the Afghan Taliban of nurturing “non-state actors” that posed threats to multiple countries in the region.
“Pakistan responded with counter-fire after Afghan border forces launched unprovoked artillery shelling into Kurram district on Saturday night,” Pakistan TV Digital reported on Saturday night, citing a local police official.
The police official said the incident occurred around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night when Afghan forces fired 6–7 artillery rounds into Pakistan’s northwestern Upper Kurram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
“Pakistani forces ‘responded with heavy weaponry,’ he said, adding that ‘relative calm had returned’ by the time authorities assessed the area,” Pakistan TV Digital said.
It quoted the police official as saying that Afghan forces initiated the shelling.
Pakistan and Afghanistan had engaged in deadly border clashes last month that both sides said killed dozens of people, including soldiers.
Islamabad and Kabul agreed to a temporary ceasefire and held peace talks in Istanbul. However, they were unable to reach an agreement on how to rein in militancy.
Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters during his Friday press briefing that the arrangement “was never a conventional ceasefire,” but a commitment that Afghan soil would not be used for attacks inside Pakistan.
“Interpreting it in that sense, the ceasefire is not holding,” he said, citing recent assaults involving the TTP and Afghan nationals.
