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Moscow urges restraint amid escalating Kabul-Islamabad tension

KABUL (Pajhwok): Moscow has voiced concern over the escalation of tensions on the Pakistani-Afghan border, urging both sides to show restraint and resolve differences through dialogue.

"Moscow is concerned over the escalation of tensions on the Pakistani-Afghan border where not only the military but also civilians perish in shootouts,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said in a statement on Sunday.

Zakharova urged Islamabad and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to engage in constructive dialogue to address their differences peacefully.

Zakharova said, according to the Russian news agency TASS. “We are calling on the sides involved to show restraint and engage in constructive dialogue, aiming to peacefully resolve all differences.”

The statement follows a series of violent exchanges between the two neighbors. Tensions spiked after Pakistani airstrikes targeted a refugee camp in Afghanistan’s Paktika Province earlier this month. The Afghan government claimed the strikes killed 52 people, including women and children.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had also said that at least 20 children were killed in the Pakistani strikes.

In apparent retaliation, Afghan forces launched attacks on Pakistani border posts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Kurram district on Saturday.

Pakistani media reported that the assault left one Pakistani soldier dead and 11 others injured.

A reliable government source in Dand-i-Patan district also confirmed that Pakistan side suffered significant casualties in these clashes.

The source said three nomads lost their lives and two others were wounded in Afghan side in rockets fired by Pakistani forces in Shpula area of Dand-i-Patan district.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned  Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul over the airstrikes in Barmal district.

In reaction to the attack, MoFA summoned Abdul Rahman Nizamani, Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires, and handed him a “firm protest note”.

kk/ma

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