Torkham border remains closed for the second day

Torkham border remains closed for the second day on Thursday following the Pak-Afghan security forces clash!

The Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan was closed a day earlier following a clash between the security forces of the two countries, which left a Frontier Corps soldier injured.

New armed clashes erupted on Wednesday when Taliban guards started building a new border outpost near Torkham in violation of mutual agreements.

As reported, several mortar shells were fired from the Afghan side, which landed at the offices of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Customs, and other official workplaces.

According to an official a mortar shell also hit a mosque on the Pakistani side of the border while another landed in the Bacha Mena border village.

However, no casualties were reported.

The fresh batch of escalation has risen over the construction of a bunker by the interim Afghanistan government on the Afghan side, specifically on a hilltop near the border.

Pakistani authorities had requested the Afghan side to halt the construction, citing it as a violation of international law, an official performing duty at the Torkham border told a news source.

The Afghan authorities did not bother to heed this request. Consequently, the border was closed amid escalating tension.

“Both Pakistani and Afghan officials held talks but failed to resolve the issue and all of a sudden, Afghan troops started shelling Pakistan’s side of the border,” the official added.

According to him, the gunfire started at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and continued for around three hours resulting in FC soldier Maqsood, sustaining bullet injuries and being taken to a hospital.

“Afghan forces tried to establish a check post in an area where it is agreed… that both sides will not establish a check post,” said Pakistan local administration official Irshad Mohmand while talking to AFP

A local Pakistan police official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said: “The atmosphere is tense” and “forces on both sides are alert.”