2 mortar shells fired from Afghanistan territory: FO

Published January 29, 2020
No casualties have been reported. — Photo provided by Naveed Siddiqui
No casualties have been reported. — Photo provided by Naveed Siddiqui

Two mortar shells were fired into Pakistan from the Afghanistan territory, said Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui on Wednesday. No casualties were reported.

Following the incident, the Torkham border gate was closed off for security reasons, she added.

"The matter is being coordinated with Afghan authorities," Farooqui said in a statement, adding that the gate is likely to be opened soon.

"Some mortars were fired from across the border in Afghanistan and landed inside Pakistan. They caused some damage to vehicles," Mahmood Aslam Wazir, deputy district commissioner of the area on the Pakistani side, told Reuters.

An Afghan official denied that Afghan forces had fired into Pakistan.

"In the past, Pakistan has played the same game whenever they want to close the Torkham crossing," Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, told Reuters.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had last year decided to keep the Torkham border crossing open for 24 hours in order to facilitate trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Despite measures to improve ties, however, there have been several incidents of border skirmishes between the Afghanistan and Pakistan forces.

In October last year, 11 people were injured in a border skirmish between the Pakistan and Afghanistan forces after the latter fired mortars and heavy machine guns in Narai district of Kunar province, targeting civilian population in the Arandu village.

According to Abdul Ghani Musamem, a government official in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, the clashes had erupted when Afghan troops used force to stop the construction of a border installation.

Pakistan Army is currently fencing the border and building forts for paramilitary forces along the porous Pak-Afghan border to check illegal cross-border movement of people.

Opinion

Editorial

All this talk
30 Apr, 2024

All this talk

IT is still early days, but there have been several small developments over the past week that, it is hoped, may add...
Monetary policy
30 Apr, 2024

Monetary policy

ALIGNING its decision with the trend in developed economies, the State Bank has acted wisely by holding its key...
Meaningless appointment
30 Apr, 2024

Meaningless appointment

THE PML-N’s policy of ‘family first’ has once again triggered criticism. The party’s latest move in this...
Weathering the storm
Updated 29 Apr, 2024

Weathering the storm

Let 2024 be the year when we all proactively ensure that our communities are safeguarded and that the future is secure against the inevitable next storm.
Afghan repatriation
29 Apr, 2024

Afghan repatriation

COMPARED to the roughshod manner in which the caretaker set-up dealt with the issue, the elected government seems a...
Trying harder
29 Apr, 2024

Trying harder

IT is a relief that Pakistan managed to salvage some pride. Pakistan had taken the lead, then fell behind before...