Taliban says Pakistani troopers tried to erect a navy construction on the Afghan-Pakistani border, inflicting Tuesday’s lethal skirmish.
The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan has blamed the Pakistan military’s try to construct a safety submit at their border as the rationale behind Tuesday’s cross-border skirmish, inflicting a number of deaths on each side, together with a minimum of three Pakistani troopers.
“Pakistan forces tried to erect a navy submit close to the road,” Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi mentioned in a press release on Wednesday.
The change of fireplace between the 2 sides occurred in Paktia province on the Afghan facet and Pakistan’s Kurram area.
Karimi mentioned some Afghan authorities went to speak to the Pakistani officers allegedly constructing the border submit, however they had been fired upon.
“Each side exchanged fires, which can have resulted within the lack of lives,” he mentioned within the assertion, with out revealing the small print of Afghan casualties.
The assertion added that the Afghan authorities is investigating the matter and that the management of each nations had been in contact to make sure no repeat of such an incident takes place.
The Taliban’s response got here a day after the Pakistani navy claimed the “terrorists from inside Afghanistan” opened fireplace on Pakistani troops stationed in Kurram, leading to “heavy casualties” for the insurgent fighters.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the usage of Afghan soil by terrorists for actions in opposition to Pakistan and expects that Afghan authorities is not going to permit conduct of such actions in future,” the assertion mentioned.
Persevering with tensions
The incident got here amid simmering tensions between the South Asian neighbours because the Taliban seized energy in Kabul a 12 months in the past.
On Wednesday, the Taliban rejected stories claiming Pakistan’s Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar had sought refuge in Afghanistan.
JeM goals to overthrow India’s management over Indian-administered Kashmir and was designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations in 2001. Azhar was added to the record in 2019.
Pakistani media stories quoting overseas ministry sources on Tuesday mentioned Islamabad had written to Kabul, asking to find and arrest Azhar.
Whereas the Pakistani authorities didn’t reply to the stories, the Taliban issued a press release, rejecting Azhar’s presence in Afghanistan.
“We reiterate that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan doesn’t permit any armed oppositions in its territory to function in opposition to every other nation,” the assertion mentioned.
“We additionally name on all events to chorus from such allegations missing any proof and documentations. Such media allegations can adversely have an effect on bilateral relations.”
Pakistan’s overseas ministry didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s request for a touch upon the matter.