KANDAHAR (Pajhwok): The Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing has been reopened for traffic and pedestrians after being closed yesterday due to a clash between Afghan and Pakistani forces.
Haji Zaid, the spokesman for the governor of southern Kandahar province, told Pajhwok Afghan News Pakistan closed the Friendship Gate yesterday after a clash between the two sides.
Without elaborating, he said talks were held today between officials of the commissaries of both sides.
The yesterday’s clash took place at around 2:00 pm when Afghan forces wanted to set up a security post in ‘Shero Oba’ area near the Durand Line on the southern side of Spin Boldak, but the Pakistani forces prevented their move.
Haji Zaid said there were casualties on this side of the crossing, but he had no information about casualties on the Pakistani side. “Our 10 Mujahideen were injured, one was martyred and three civilians were also injured."
Residents of the area claimed Pakistani forces fired mortars at residential areas near the Durand Line and some villages of Chaman city following the clash, inflicting casualties on civilians.
Abdul Baqi, a resident of Mazal village near the Durand Line, told Pajhwok: “I was on my way to Chaman when the clash started. We saw missiles being fired from Pakistan’s military base towards Chaman and nearby villages.”
Hikmatullah, a resident of Chaman, told Pajhwok that nine dead bodies and 24 wounded people were brought to the Chaman hospital late yesterday, all of them civilians.
Maulvi Shakib, spokesperson of 205 Badr Corps in Kandahar, also claimed Pakistani forces caused casualties to civilians in Chaman.
“The clash took place in Shero Oba area and the civilian casualties occurred on Chaman main road and Guldara Baghcha area. This area is far from Shero Oba. The Pakistani forces fired bullets at the houses themselves."
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday strongly condemned the firing by Afghan Border Forces on the civilian population in Balochistan’s Chaman district a day earlier and called on the interim government in Kabul to ensure that such incidents were not repeated in the future.
At least seven people lost their lives and 16 others suffered injuries on Sunday in Chaman when it came under “unprovoked and indiscriminate” heavy gunfire and artillery shelling by Afghan border forces, according to the Pakistan military’s media affairs wing.
In a tweet on Monday, PM Shehbaz said the “unprovoked shelling and fire by Afghan Border Forces at Chaman, resulting in [the] martyrdom of several Pakistani citizens and injuring more than a dozen, is unfortunate and deserves the strongest condemnation”.
Former ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan also issued a condemnation and stressed the need for measures to prevent such incidents, highlighting that an increase was observed in their occurrence in recent days.
“Condemn yesterday’s Chaman incident killing six Pakistanis and injuring many others from firing/shelling from [the] Afghan side. Unfortunately, such incidents have been continuing/increasing recently,” he tweeted, calling for “direct talks with [the] Afghan government/institutions to prevent [the] recurrence of such incidents, which is in mutual interest”.
“Continuation of such cross-border incidents not only affects relations but [also] impedes [the] enhancing of cooperation in political, trade, transit, economic exchanges and particularly [the] movement of people”, he added.
In a statement issued on Sunday night, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said “such unfortunate incidents are not in keeping with the brotherly ties” between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“The Afghan authorities have been informed that recurrence of such incidents must be avoided and strictest possible action must be taken against those responsible,” it said in a statement, adding that both countries remained in contact to ensure there was no escalation of the situation.
Earlier, the Pakistan military’s media affairs wing described the incident as “uncalled-for aggression” and said Pakistani troops had given a “befitting” but “measured response” and avoided targeting civilians on the other side.
Pakistani authorities had approached their counterparts in Kabul to highlight the “severity” of the situation, demanding strict action to prevent a repeat of such incidents, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement issued on Sunday evening.
About a month ago, Afghan and Pakistani soldiers exchanged fire at the zero point of the Durand Line in Spin Boldak district and as a result the Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing was closed to traffic and trade for a week.
People and businessmen on both sides of the Durand Line have repeatedly requested that no problems should be created on the road and trade should not become a victim of politics.
Besides thousands of trucks carrying import and export goods, the Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing, the largest transit road in the south of the country, is used by about 20,000 people daily.
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