Afghan and Pakistani forces trade fire at the border as a key crossing remains closed
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani and Afghan forces traded fire overnight at a key northwestern border crossing that has been closed for more than a week over a dispute between the two neighbors, officials said Monday.
The Interior Ministry in Kabul said one Afghan security personnel was killed and another was injured in the incident at the Torkham crossing, which has been shut for 11 days due to Pakistan disputing Afghanistan’s construction of a new border post there.
Both countries have in the past closed Torkham and the southwestern Chaman border crossing, most often over deadly shootings and cross-fire. The crossings are vital for trade and travel between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan.
A Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said that Taliban security forces opened fire unprovoked in the early hours of Monday, targeting Pakistan’s border post with automatic weapons. Pakistani personnel returned fire, the official said.
The spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Kabul, Abdul Mateen Qani, said Pakistan initiated the violence and that Afghan border police had tried to resolve the issue through dialogue. “But they (Pakistan) continued this fight and our security forces went into defensive mode and responded.”
Qani said Pakistan also suffered casualties, without giving a figure, and damage to border posts.
Thousands of trucks and vehicles were stranded on both sides of the Torkham crossing, leaving people stuck in harsh winter conditions.
Shakirullah Safi, the chief executive of Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said Afghan traders were losing $500,000 a day because of the closure.
“When this gate is open, 600 to 700 vehicles travel between us and Pakistan carrying exports and imports,” said Safi. “There are 5,000 containers stuck on both sides and are all at a standstill. Afghan traders are suffering huge losses because they are working on both sides.”
By RIAZ KHAN
Associated Press
