Afghan forces shell border town, killing 7

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Fatal cross-border shelling by Afghan Taliban forces at a Pakistani border city on Sunday killed 7 persons, Pakistan’s armed forces explained, as relations continue to bitter concerning the two neighboring countries.

The violence hitting Chaman in southwestern Pakistan follows a collection of lethal incidents and attacks that have skyrocketed tensions in between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers. Chaman is the key border crossing for trade amongst the nations around the world.

The crossing was reopened on Monday early morning, authorities reported.

The Pakistani army’s media wing to begin with explained six died in Sunday’s shelling, but the death toll later rose to 7. Sixteen other people had been wounded, the army claimed, blaming the casualties on the “unprovoked and indiscriminate fire” of weighty weapons by Afghan forces on civilians.

In Afghanistan, a spokesman for Kandahar’s governor, Ataullah Zaid, appeared to website link the clashes involving Pakistani and Taliban forces with the building of new checkpoints on the Afghan aspect of the border.

He explained a person Taliban fighter was killed and 10 had been wounded. Three civilians were also wounded, he added.

Pakistan’s army claimed troops responded to Afghan fire, but did not give even further details. It stated Pakistan has approached authorities in the Afghan cash, Kabul, to spotlight the severity of the border incident.

Earlier, Akhtar Mohammad, a physician with a government-run healthcare facility in Chaman, explained to The Associated Press that stay rounds wounded a complete of 27 persons who were being brought to the clinic for therapy. He reported seven were in significant issue.

A resident on Pakistan’s aspect of the border, Wali Mohammad took his wounded cousin to the clinic in Chaman. He explained there had been a number of explosions followed by fast gunfire.

“We were in the avenue like any other working day off, when abruptly, a big explosion was read and debris strike numerous individuals, such as just one of my cousins,” reported Mohammad.

Criticizing the Taliban, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif tweeted on Monday: “The Afghan Interim govt need to make certain that such incidents are not repeated.”

A deadly shooting in November shuttered the border at Chaman for 8 times, producing heavy business losses and leaving thousands of persons stranded on both of those sides.

Later previous thirty day period, Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul came below gunfire. Pakistani officials named the incident an assault on its envoy there and blamed Taliban officials for the protection breach. Islamabad also has stated Afghanistan’s rulers are sheltering militants who have out lethal assaults on its soil.