Pakistan-Afghan Border Clashes Escalate, Afghan Guard Killed
Local Editor
Renewed clashes overnight at a Pakistan-Afghan border crossing killed an Afghan border guard and wounded five, an Afghan official said Wednesday as Islamabad dispatched more troops and weapons to the volatile boundary amid an escalation in tension between the two neighbors.
The Afghan guard is the third fatality since Sunday night, when clashes erupted at the Torkham border crossing over the construction of a gate by Pakistan on allegedly disputed territory.
In Afghanistan, border police official Jamal Khan said the Afghan guard was killed late Tuesday. Another Afghan guard was killed the first night of the violence and a Pakistani officer wounded in the border clashes died Tuesday.
In the same respect, Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, which lies along the border with Pakistan, appealed on Pakistan to stop shooting toward the Afghan side, adding that fighting "is not the solution."
In parallel, two Pakistani security officials confirmed the latest exchange of fire on Torkham but said the cease-fire is now holding. There was some damage on the Pakistani side, they said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, the Torkham crossing remained closed Wednesday, while Pakistan and Afghanistan blamed one another for the latest escalation.
Earlier last month, the Torkham crossing was closed over a similar incident and reopened following a meeting between Pakistan's army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif and Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
