Afghan soldier on the border with Pakistan Photo: AFP / AFP / Profimedia
Four civilians and a soldier were killed on the night of Friday to Saturday in Afghanistan, during an exchange of fire with Pakistan in a border region, a new episode in the confrontation between the two countries that began in October, according to AFP.
The toll is four civilians killed, announced the governor of the Afghan Spin Boldak region (southern Afghanistan), Abdul Karim Jahad. A little later, an Afghan government spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said an Afghan soldier had also been killed and “five people wounded.”
Taliban authorities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani government accused each other of starting the hostilities, which stopped late at night, according to Kabul.
Pakistan and Afghanistan blame each other
“Unfortunately, this evening (Friday, no), the Pakistani side began to attack Afghanistan in Kandahar, Spin Boldak district, and the forces of the Islamic Emirate had to retaliate,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on social network X.
“Not long ago, the Afghan Taliban regime resorted to firing (without any provocation) along the border,” said peX, a spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Mosharraf Zaidi. “Our armed forces immediately reacted adequately and intensively,” he added.
“A mortar shell was fired and hit my brother as he was going to another room of the house. At first we couldn't save him because other shells were falling, then we took him to Kandahar and he only survived until two in the morning,” Shamshullah, a 40-year-old resident of Spin Boldak on the Afghan side, who preferred not to give his last name, told AFP.
“We ask that there be no more fighting in these areas, there are areas where civilians live on both sides (of the border, no),” he added.
“There was gunfire, then the tanks also started firing and mortar shells hit our house,” Mahmood Khan, a resident whose two cousins and a niece were injured, told AFP.
An AFP correspondent on the Pakistani side of the border in Chaman heard artillery fire and explosions.
“The firing was very intense. Due to mortar shells landing near our house, metal fragments flew everywhere. Four members of our family were injured,” Mehmood Khan, a resident on the Pakistani side, told AFP.
Another resident, Abdul Qudoos, also claimed to have been injured, along with his daughter and wife. The Pakistani government has not reported any casualties so far.
