Fighting halted on Afghanistan-Pakistan border: Taliban govt

[ghazi52]

Fighting halted on Afghanistan-Pakistan border: Taliban govt​

AFP
March 19, 2024



KABUL: Fighting has stopped on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border after Pakistani air strikes sparked skirmishes, a Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday.

"The situation is calm, the fighting has stopped," Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

Pakistan carried out strikes in the border areas in Khost and Paktika provinces in Afghanistan early on Monday.

Islamabad said it had targeted militants it said were responsible for a recent attack on its soil, but Taliban authorities said eight civilians, all women and children, were killed in the bombardment.

Afghanistan's defence ministry said its border forces retaliated by targeting Pakistani military posts along the border with "heavy weapons", with cross-border skirmishes reported by both sides.

A senior police officer in the Pakistani border district of Kurram told AFP that Afghan security forces struck the area with mortar shells.

"As a result, three security posts and five houses of civilians suffered partial damage, with nine individuals, including four security personnel wounded," the officer told AFP, asking not to be named.

"Silence prevails on the border today, and security forces have reinforced their positions."

Border tensions between the two countries have steadily escalated since the Taliban government seized power in 2021.

Islamabad has accused Kabul's Taliban government of harbouring militant fighters, allowing them to strike on Pakistani soil with impunity.

Kabul has denied the allegations.

Gun battles also regularly erupt over the construction of checkpoints along the disputed border and trade crossings are closed over immigration disagreements.

 

[ghazi52]

US urges both Pakistan & Afghanistan​

The Frontier Post

Jalil Afridi
Washington DC: The US State Department has asked Pakistan to show restraint against killing civilians in Afghanistan whereas in the same breath it asked the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to not allow their land to be used by terrorists to launch terrorists attacks against Pakistan.

The same comments were made today by White House Spokesperson, Karine Jean Pierre while addressing the media that the U.S. urges both the countries to show restraint.

When asked by The Frontier Post that the U.S. is taking very balanced approach towards both the countries and it doesn’t seem like the U.S. is considering Pakistan as an ally, Vedant Patel stated that “next time you have feedback invite me to Yelp” and he also stated that U.S. condemns the loss of lives on both sides where Pakistani soldiers perished and where Afghan civilians got killed.

Vedant further stated that Pakistan is a key partner with whom the U.S. has regular communication with regard to terrorism related issues.

It is pertinent to mention here that today at the White House it was journalist from the Voice of America who raised the question about Pakistan and Afghanistan tussle which obviously shows that Washington DC is abuzz about this issue but has decided to allow both Pakistan and Afghanistan to resolve this issue among each other and not become party to this conflict.

On the other hand international news media outlet Al Jazeera is reporting that Pakistan is struggling with the fact that Tehrike Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has gotten their hands on sophisticated weapons which were left behind by the United States at the time of their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Other analysts in Washington DC are of the opinion that these small skirmishes between the two countries can eventually lead to a small scale war.

At the end of the briefing when this correspondent asked Mr Vedant about the Yelp comment, he said that it was a silly joke.