Pakistan and Afghanistan have traded blame for brief cross-border fighting, as delegations from both countries met in Turkiye for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire following deadly clashes last month.
Thursday’s talks in Istanbul are intended to finalise a truce approved on October 19 in Qatar that ended a week of deadly clashes between the South Asian neighbours, which killed dozens of people, including soldiers and civilians, and wounded hundreds of others.
Security issues are at the heart of their dispute, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harbouring groups such as the Pakistan Taliban (TTP), which is accused of launching attacks in Pakistan. The Taliban government in Afghanistan denies these allegations.
“While the third round of negotiations with the Pakistani side has begun in Istanbul, unfortunately, this afternoon Pakistani forces once again opened fire on Spin Boldak, causing concern among the local population,” Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday.
The city of Spin Boldak is located in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.
“The Islamic Emirate’s forces, out of respect for the negotiation team and to prevent civilian casualties, have so far shown no reaction,” Mujahid said on X.
Pakistan denied the accusation, pinning the blame on Afghanistan.
“We strongly reject claims circulated by the Afghan side regarding today’s incident at the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting posted on X. “Firing was initiated from the Afghan side, to which our security forces responded immediately in a measured and responsible manner.”
Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban authorities, told the AFP news agency that “we don’t know the reason” for the Pakistani fire.
Ali Mohammed Haqmal, head of Kandahar’s information department, said the firing was brief. Residents told AFP it lasted 10-15 minutes.
Pakistan confirmed that calm had been restored.
Negotiations in Istanbul reached an impasse last week when it came to finalising ceasefire details, with each side accusing the other of not being willing to cooperate.
Both sides also warned of a resumption of hostilities in case of failure.
Despite the ceasefire, all important border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan remain closed to trade and civilian movement. The crossings were shut on October 12, though Pakistan has partially reopened two of those to allow Afghan refugees to return home.
Host Turkiye said at the conclusion of last week’s talks that the parties had agreed to establish a monitoring and verification mechanism to maintain peace and penalise violators.
Fifty civilians were killed and 447 others wounded on the Afghan side of the border during clashes that began on October 9, according to the United Nations. At least five people died in explosions in Kabul that the Taliban government blamed on Pakistan.
The Pakistani army reported 23 of its soldiers were killed and 29 others wounded, without mentioning civilian casualties.
