ISLAMABAD, 13 Aug: Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces traded cross-border fire near a key northwestern crossing, killing a woman and two children on the Afghan side of the border, officials said Tuesday.
\nThere was no immediate word on casualties on the Pakistani side of the Torkham border which was shut, disrupting trade and movement of people between the two countries, local Pakistani official Zahid Khan said.
\nTorkham, a key border crossing, is located in Pakistan\u2019s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
\nIt was unclear who initiated the attack, though such cross-border fire is common along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Each side has in the past closed Torkham, and also the southwestern Chaman border crossing in Pakistan, for various reasons. Both crossings are vital for trade and travel for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
\nIn Kabul, Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for Afghanistan\u2019s Interior Ministry, said the clash took place Monday and accused Pakistani forces of targeting civilians.
\nHe said \u201cPakistani forces opened fire on forces of the Islamic Emirate in the Ghorki area near the Durand line in Torkham area, prompting a response from the Afghan side,.\u201d
\nHe said on the social media platform X that Afghan forces destroyed two Pakistani border posts during the clashes.
\nPakistani officials say the two sides were in contact with each other to defuse tensions.
\nLocal officials in Pakistan on Tuesday said thousands of people living near the Torkham border fled and evacuated to safer places on Monday.
\nPakistani authorities said trucks carrying perishable items, including vegetables and fruits, were waiting on both sides of the border Tuesday for the reopening of the Torkham crossing.
\nThe Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were withdrawing from the country after 20 years of war. Like the rest of the world, Pakistan has so far not recognized Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban government. The international community has been wary of the Taliban\u2019s harsh measures, imposed since their takeover, especially in restricting the rights of women and minorities. AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, 13 Aug: Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces traded cross-border fire near a key northwestern crossing, killing a woman and two children on the Afghan side of the border, officials said Tuesday. There was no immediate word on casualties on the Pakistani side of the Torkham border which was shut, disrupting trade and movement of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-246318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}