PESHAWAR: Pak-Afghan Torkham border saw heavy firing late on Sunday over the issue of the installation of security gates on the Pakistani side.
According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, “At about 2120 hrs on Sunday, Afghan security forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pakistani side at Torkham gate, injuring a Pakistani soldier. Pakistani security forces responded to Afghan firing effectively”. Initial reports said that the firing started around 10pm by the Afghan forces that targeted Pakistani security posts near Bacha Mena village. Pakistani forces retaliated the attack.
A source in Landi Kotal informed Daily Times that heavy firing could be heard as far as in Landi Kotal. “We are hearing continued firing sine 10pm. There is heavy movement of the security forces from Landi Kotal to the Torkham border,” the source said requesting anonymity. A local journalist also said that the mobile phone service was disrupted in the area after intense firing was heard which made it difficult to contact anyone in Bacha Mena village. “I only heard that panic gripped people as the Afghan forces indiscriminately fired on the civilian population,” he said. He added that Pakistani forces also targeted Afghan security posts located on Shamshad Ghar Mountain. “Huge flames could be seen at Shamshad Ghar from a distance. There were also reports of heavy artillery use from both sides,” he said.
According to sources a state of fear prevailed among the locals as firing continued till late. It was also learnt that security officials of both the countries reached the border to defuse the tension between the two sides. An emergency was declared at the Agency Headquarter Hospital Landi Kotal. Eyewitnesses said that there was heavy presence of security forces at the hospital as well. Amidst all this the attempts to contact security officials and political administration failed due to communication lines disrupted till the filing of this report.
Spokesman of Afghanistan’s Nangrahar province governor Attaullah Khugyani confirmed that there was an on-going clash at the border between Afghan and Pakistani forces. However, no reason had been cited for the incident. Sources also reported that Afghan security forces were sending reinforcements to the area. However, no detail about casualties on the Afghan side could be confirmed.
The Pak-Afghan border at Torkham witnessed skirmishes between the border forces of the two countries in the past too. They were mainly triggered by Pakistan’s attempt to check the illegal crossing of Afghans into Pakistan. Pakistan believes it is her right to check the illegal border crossing by Afghans, as they are often involved in criminal and terrorist activities in Pakistan. Pakistan is host to more than three million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees for more than three decades. Time and again, security reports have revealed the involvement of many refugees in criminal activities such as kidnaps for ransom and target killings, besides facilitating the terrorist acts.
Military’s media wing said, “It may be mentioned that Torkham is the most frequent crossing point at Pak-Afghan border and recently terrorists have been found using this gate for entry. In order to check movement of terrorists at Torkham, Pakistan is constructing a gate on its side as a necessity measure to check unwanted and illegal movement”. Earlier in May, the Torkham border crossing was reopened after Pakistan and Afghanistan reached an understanding to reopen it. The decision to reopen the border crossing was made at a meeting between Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal.
