QUETTA: The Pakistan Army said on Sunday Afghan border forces opened “unprovoked” fire into a border region between the two nations, killing six civilians and injuring 17.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, clashes have taken place between its security forces and those of Pakistan, while militants have attacked Pakistani forces.
Trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan through the main Chaman crossing remained closed for 8 days in November after a Pakistani Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary soldier was shot dead by an Afghan national on a gate at the border.
Trade reopened after the Taliban pledged to apprehend and punish the killer.
"Afghan Border Forces opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery/ mortar onto the Civilian population in Chaman Balochistan killing 06 people, injuring 17," the Pakistan army's media wing said in a statement.
It added that Pakistan had avoided targeting innocent civilians in the area but had approached Afghan authorities in Kabul "to highlight severity of the situation and demanded strict action to obviate any such recurrence of the incident in future."
Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban government, said authorities were investigating Sunday's clashes.
"We have a clear policy to resolve all issues between the two brotherly countries through peaceful means and diplomatic channels," he said in an interview with a Pakistani TV channel.
District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Ali Kasi said Afghan border forces fired mortars toward Pakistan, of which one landed and exploded on a road in the border city of Chaman.
"The Pak-Afghan friendship gate is closed for all kinds of pedestrian and trade movement after Sunday's clashes," Kasi told Arab News.
Chaman in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province is one of the busiest border crossings, used by thousands of people on a daily basis to travel between the two neighbouring countries.
Medical superintendent of the District Headquarter Hospital Chaman, Dr. Malik Achakzai, said seven critically injured patients had been referred to a hospital in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, for advanced medical treatment.
"All the injured who were brought into the DHQ Hospital Chaman have received splinter wounds," Achakzai told Arab News.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudus Bizenjo "strongly condemned" the attack and said he hoped the federal government would raise the issue with Kabul at the diplomatic level.
Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban to ensure it lives up to promises that it would not harbour international militants. The Taliban denies harbouring militants.
Disputes linked to the border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades.
The Taliban has attempted to block Pakistan's plans to finish fencing the 2,600 km (1,615 mile) border, which was drawn by British colonial rulers with no consideration for the Pashtun tribes it divided.
