Pakistan, Afghanistan border remains closed for second day following deadly clashes
Border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed for a second day on Monday after deadly clashes over the weekend heightened tensions and left hundreds of people stranded, officials said.
The fighting erupted Saturday night when Afghan forces targeted several Pakistani military posts. Afghanistan claimed it killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in retaliation for repeated alleged violations of its territory and airspace. Pakistan, however, reported 23 soldiers killed and said its forces had eliminated more than 200 “Taliban and affiliated terrorists” during counterattacks along the border. Saudi Arabia and other foreign governments called for restraint, and a ceasefire appeared to hold by Sunday.
Authorities reported no new exchanges of fire along the 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) Durand Line, which Afghanistan has never officially recognized. It remained unclear when the border would reopen.
Although the Chaman border in southwestern Pakistan remained closed to trade, officials briefly allowed roughly 1,500 Afghan nationals stranded there since Sunday to return home on foot, according to government officer Imtiaz Ali. The Torkham crossing in the northwest stayed closed to both travel and trade, confirmed by local traders’ representative Mujib Ullah. Afghan refugees, many waiting to leave Pakistan amid crackdowns on undocumented foreigners, said they had been stranded at Torkham since Sunday.
Gul Rahman, an Afghan refugee, said he and his family returned to Peshawar after waiting at Torkham, while hundreds of others sought temporary shelter in nearby areas.
Tensions have been building since last week when Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan of airstrikes in Kabul and in eastern Afghan markets, which Islamabad denied. Pakistan has previously launched strikes inside Afghanistan, claiming to target militant hideouts. The weekend clashes marked the deadliest confrontation along the border in years, highlighting longstanding hostilities between the two countries.
Pakistan has long accused Kabul of harboring members of the banned Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), responsible for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies these claims, maintaining that Afghan territory is not used to strike other nations.
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