Afghanistan Calls in Pakistan Envoy over Cross-Border Shelling
Local Editor
The Afghan Foreign Ministry had summoned Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul in protest at alleged cross-border shelling by Pakistani forces.
According to a statement from the Afghan ministry, Pakistan's ambassador was summoned on Thursday to receive Kabul's protest over the recent cross-border shelling.
"Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai summoned the ambassador of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Kabul, Sayed Ibrar Hussain, and expressed the protest and concern of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in relation to the mortar and artillery shelling of Pakistani military forces over the Afghan territory along Durand Line," the statement read.
Hussain promised to convey the concerns of the Afghan government to the relevant authorities in Pakistan.
Senior Afghan officials said Pakistani forces shelled several villages across the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar over on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sources stated that up to three civilians, including a woman, were killed and two others injured in the cross-border attacks.
Karzai also noted that the attacks were fueling anti-Pakistan sentiments across Afghanistan.
"The continuity of such attacks is against principles of good neighborliness and international law and norms, and can significantly harm friendly relations between the two nations," the statement quoted Karzai as saying.
However, reacting to the allegations, an unnamed Pakistani military source denied that any major incident of cross-border shelling had happened over the past few days.
Pakistani military officials insist that Pakistani forces usually fire at militants who try to cross the porous border between the two countries.
"It may have happened at the sub-tactical level," Pakistan's English-language newspaper, Dawn, quoted the source as saying.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad had been strained in recent months, especially over the delicate issue of demarcation of the two countries' border, which is a key battleground in the fight against the Taliban.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
