Pak-Afghan border forces clash in Chaman's Killi Sheikh Lal

At least one person was killed and 15 others injured as Afghan forces once again targeted civilian settlements along the border with Pakistan, with border security forces on both sides engaged in clashes in Chaman's Sheikh Lal Muhammad, Geo News reported Thursday, citing Pakistani authorities.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a brief initial statement, confirmed that "indiscriminate and intermittent" firing was continuing from inside Afghanistan on the civilian population of Chaman. Women and children are among the injured.

The clash started over the intervention of Afghan forces in repairing of a barrack along the border by Pakistani authorities in Sheikh Lal Muhammad sector, authorities said.

Levies officials said that several artillery shells were fired in the Boghra and Custom House area.

The officials said that a befitting response was given by the Pakistani forces by using heavy artillery in retaliation.

Meanwhile, Chaman deputy commissioner said that the District Headquarters Hospital, Chaman has been put on high alert and the citizens have been directed to vacate Mall Road, Boghra Road, Bypass and Border Road.

Six martyred, 17 injured in cross-border firing in Chaman

This is the second time in five days that the Afghan border forces opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire, using heavy weapons, at the civilian area in Balochistan's Chaman city. 

On Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the "unprovoked shelling and firing" by the Afghan border forces at the Chaman border — which martyred six people and injured 17 others — and stressed the Afghan government should ensure that such incidents are not repeated.

According to the military’s media wing, the Afghan border forces used artillery and mortar in the attack.

The ISPR said that Pakistan’s troops at the border gave a befitting albeit measured response against the uncalled-for aggression, but avoided targeting innocent civilians in the area.

The statement added the Pakistani border forces have also approached Afghan authorities in Kabul to highlight the severity of the situation and demanded strict action to avoid any such recurrence of the incident in the future.

On December 2, Pakistan’s Head of Mission to Kabul Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani escaped an assassination bid.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) had said the embassy’s compound in Kabul came under attack targeting the head of mission, but "by the grace of Allah Almighty, the head of mission is safe".

However, a Pakistani security guard Sepoy Israr Mohammad had been critically injured in the attack while protecting Nizamani, the Foreign Office said.

It said that Pakistan’s government strongly condemns the assassination attempt and attack on the embassy demanding the Afghan government conduct an immediate investigation into the incident.