Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire at several points on Sunday, temporarily closing the busy Torkham crossing and drawing a sharp warning from Pakistan’s military spokesman.
At Torkham, gunfire broke out after Afghan authorities resumed work on a disputed check post, known as Zangali, despite Pakistan’s objections. The post sits within 100 metres of the border, an area both sides had agreed to keep free of new structures. The hour-long exchange caused no casualties on the Pakistani side, and the crossing stayed shut for nearly five hours.
The crossing reopened after border officials agreed, through intermediaries, to halt construction near the border. The closure caused panic among returning Afghans and residents, suspended repatriation of unregistered Afghans and shut government offices.
At Angoor Adda in Lower South Waziristan, the deputy commissioner said Afghan posts kept firing on Pakistani checkpoints. Pakistani forces responded immediately, striking several Afghan posts, mortar positions and defensive installations, after which Taliban personnel abandoned their posts and fled. No casualties were reported on the Pakistani side, he said.
The clashes underscored a warning from Inter-Services Public Relations chief Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, whose interview was partly broadcast by state media on Sunday. He said Pakistan could impose a heavy cost if terrorism from Afghan soil continued, and that Kabul could not absorb the punishment Pakistan could inflict. Pakistan only asked Kabul to stop harbouring terrorist leaders.
Lt Gen Chaudhry named India as the prime sponsor of terrorism in Pakistan, calling the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Balochistan Liberation Army its proxies and the Afghan Taliban a proxy of India. Afghanistan had no domestic drone industry, he added.
Washington backed Pakistan’s concerns. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the G20 meeting in Atlanta on Saturday that Pakistan was worried about attacks sponsored from Afghan territory and believed the Taliban had not done enough to stop them. The United States did not want Pakistan targeted by terrorism and would play a productive role if it could, he said.
