OMM Newsroom
Pakistan said Wednesday that its forces were responding “heavily” after Afghan forces allegedly opened “unprovoked” fire along the countries’ shared border, killing at least one civilian and injuring five others, Anadolu Agency reported.
The latest exchange of artillery fire took place in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal district, which borders Afghanistan’s eastern provinces of Paktia and Paktika. Kabul did not immediately respond to Islamabad’s claim.
South Waziristan’s deputy commissioner said on “X” that Afghan forces fired “unprovoked” on civilian homes on Tuesday night. “One civilian killed, five injured by a mortar round, many shops damaged,” he said.
Pakistani forces along the border “have and are responding effectively and heavily,” the deputy commissioner added.
Relations between the two neighbours have become increasingly strained in recent years amid a series of militant attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad accuses India and Afghanistan of supporting militant groups involved in attacks on Pakistani soil. Kabul and New Delhi reject the accusation.
Separately, Pakistan’s army said in a statement on Wednesday that it had killed nine “terrorists” in two security operations in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
