Kabul, Mar 16: Afghanistan’s Taliban forces and Pakistan’s military exchanged fire at multiple locations along their shared border, killing at least two children and wounding 10 people in southeastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Monday, as fighting continued for a third consecutive week despite international calls for a ceasefire.
Ten people were also injured when mortar shells fired from Pakistan overnight struck villages in Afghanistan’s Khost province, said Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a spokesman for the provincial governor. He said several homes were destroyed.
The latest violence came a day after Pakistan said a mortar fired from Afghanistan hit a house in the northwestern Bajaur district, killing four members of the same family and wounding two others, including a 5-year-old child.
Residents in Bajaur and officials said the military on Monday targeted Afghan positions along the border, where Sunday’s attack originated, and caused heavy losses.
There was no immediate comment from Afghanistan.
The cross-border clashes, which have included multiple Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, are among the deadliest between the two neighbours in recent years.
Islamabad has described the situation as an “open war.” Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said Afghanistan’s Taliban administration crossed a “red line” by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week.
Responding to those drone attacks, Pakistan’s air force on the weekend struck equipment storage sites and “technical support infrastructure” in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, saying it was being used for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul said Pakistan hit two locations, including an empty security site and a drug rehabilitation centre that sustained minor damage.
In Kabul, Afghanistan’s administrative Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi overnight said defending sovereignty is the duty of all citizens if it is violated.
Speaking during a meeting with political analysts and media figures, Hanafi expressed regret over civilian casualties in recent Pakistani attacks, saying the war was imposed on Afghanistan.
However, Pakistan accuses Kabul of harbouring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the allegation, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.
The ongoing fighting between the two sides began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians.
The clashes disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.
China calls for Pak-Afghan direct talks as fighting escalates
China on Monday called on Pakistan and Afghanistan to hold direct talks to end their armed conflict, as fighting between the two neighbours continued.
China hopes both sides will remain calm and exercise restraint, hold face-to-face talks as soon as possible, achieve a ceasefire at an early date, and resolve their differences through dialogue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here, replying to a question on Beijing’s mediation efforts.
Clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated in the last few days.
Late last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held telephonic talks with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, urging them to work out a ceasefire and end hostilities.
According to Afghan media reports, Muttaqi, in his talks with Wang, emphasised Afghanistan’s legitimate right to defend its people and territorial integrity and denied Islamabad’s allegations of hosting Pakistani militant groups.
Pakistan on Sunday said its security forces hit terrorist positions and military targets in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province in overnight strikes.
Media reports said Pakistani air strikes targeted the complex in which Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada resided in Kandahar.
According to the Afghan Defence Ministry, 14 Pakistani military personnel were killed and 11 others wounded in its retaliatory strikes at Pakistan’s border posts on March 14.
The Pakistani strikes came after Wang spoke to Muttaqi on March 13.
Chinese special envoy Yue Xiaoyong is also shuttling between Islamabad and Kabul to mediate between the two countries. China has a trilateral dialogue mechanism with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Earlier, several other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye, tried to mediate between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Taliban’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, in his message on Eid on Monday, urged all sides to refrain from interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
He said Afghanistan has reached a stage of victory, general security, and stability under the Taliban government.
Through the sacrifices, patience, and perseverance of the Afghan people, “we have reached the stage of victory, general security, and stability,” Akhundzada was quoted as saying by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. (PTI)
