ISLAMABAD: An Afghan border policeman was killed and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire along the Pak-Afghan border late on Wednesday, officials from both countries said.
A senior Afghan official said hundreds of additional Afghan troops were sent to a disputed border gate after the exchange of fire, which lasted for more than two hours.
Pakistani authorities accused the Afghan National Army (ANA) of firing on one of its border checkposts, injuring at least two security personnel.
A senior Pakistan security official in the country’s northwest said ANA troops started firing at 10:00 pm local time, which triggered an exchange of fire that lasted for two hours on the Pakistan-Afghan border in the Mohmand tribal district.
“It was continuous fire on one of our checkpost that forced our troops to retaliate,” the official told AFP.
“ANA was firing with small and heavy weapons. At least two of our security personnel were injured. We will raise this issue on the proper forum,” the official said.
An administrative official in the Mohmand district along the Afghan border confirmed the exchange of fire and told AFP five ambulances had been sent to the area.
It is the latest incident in a series of cross-border attacks, which Afghan and Pakistan authorities have traded blame for initiating.
Afghan officials say Pakistan has a long history of supporting Afghanistan’s Taliban and other insurgent factions.
Pakistan has in turn accused Afghanistan of giving safe haven to militants on the Afghan side of the border.
The latest tensions are focused on Pakistan’s building of a military gate which Afghan officials claim is inside Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered his top officials to take immediate action to remove the gate and other “Pakistani military installations near the Durand Line”.
The Durand Line is the 1893 British-mandated border between the two countries. It is recognised by Pakistan, but not by Afghanistan.
Afghanistan maintains that activity by either side along the Durand Line must be approved by both countries.
