Torkham border closed after Pak-Afghan forces exchange fire

LANDIKOTAL: The Pak-Afghan border at Torkham was closed on Wednesday after an exchange of fire between the security forces of the two countries over the construction of a bunker on the Afghan side, officials said.

An official performing duty at the Torkham border told The News on the condition of anonymity that the Interim Afghanistan government was constructing a bunker on a hilltop near the border.

He said Pakistani authorities requested the Afghan side to stop the construction as it was a violation of international law but they did not entertain the request.

“Both Pakistani and Afghan officials held talks but failed to resolve the issue and all of a sudden, Afghan troops started shelling Pakistan’s side of the border,” said the official.

He added that several mortar shells were fired from the Afghan side, which landed at the Customs, FIA and other offices.

The official added that a mortar shell also hit a mosque on the Pakistani side of the border while another landed in Bacha Mena border village. However, these did not cause any human loss.

He said gunfire started at 2pm which continued for around three hours. A Frontier Corps soldier, Maqsood, sustained bullet injuries and was taken to a hospital.

Meanwhile, thousands of passengers including patients, women and children besides empty and loaded trucks were stuck up on both sides of the border.

Hundreds of government and private offices were shut for safety measures.

Residents of the border village of Bacha Mena started shifting from Torkham to safer places. Residents urged the authorities to resolve the matter through talks. The border remained closed till filing to this report. AFP adds: “Afghan forces tried to establish a check post in an area where it is agreed... that both sides will not establish a check post,” said Pakistan local administration official Irshad Mohmand. A local Pakistan police official, who was not authorised to speak to the media, said: “The atmosphere is tense” and “forces on both sides are alert.”