BAJAUR: Two shops were destroyed when mortar shells fired from Afghanistan’s Kunar province landed in two border localities of Mamond tehsil on Monday evening, officials and local residents said on Tuesday.

They said the shells landed in Laghari and Mula Killi areas and that no loss of life was reported.

“We don’t know about the exact number of mortar shells fired from Afghanistan’s Kunar province, but they landed in two localities near the Pak-Afghan border,” a police official told reporters. He said two shops were destroyed.

The official said the security forces immediately responded to the attack by targeting the suspected places with heavy fire.

They villagers said the incident created fear among them as most of the people came out of their houses when the mortar shells landed in their localities.

A team of district administration and police officials visited the localities and inspected the destroyed shops.

The police officials also found some remains of the mortar shells from the destroyed shops and shifted to the police lines for further investigation.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was not the first time that the border localities were targeted as several such attacks have taken place in the recent past.

Meanwhile, the tribal elders, political and religious leaders condemned the attack and termed it cowardly.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, they asked the Afghan government to ensure that such attacks were not carried out in future.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021