Relief sent for Afghan border attack victims
quetta — Government authorities dispatched truckloads of relief supplies on Saturday to villages along the southwest border with Afghanistan, where 11 people were killed in fighting between the two countries prompting Pakistan to close a border crossing, officials said.
Akhtar Mohammed, a doctor at a Chaman hospital, said that dozens of persons wounded in Friday’s skirmishes were still being treated and that “some of them are still traumatised”.
Over 50 villagers and several troops were wounded when Afghanistan fired on census workers and troops escorting them. Pakistan responded by shutting the border and firing artillery shells that killed six Afghans.
The gunfire from Afghanistan came as census workers escorted by troops were going door-todoor in villages located along the border as part of a nationwide census, which began in March.
Pakistan says the Afghan government was informed about the census being undertaken on its side of the border and exact coordinates of the areas were also shared with Kabul.
Friday’s fire ended when local commanders from the two armies communicated on a hotline that is
Pakistan is monitoring the borders situation and ready to protect its territorial boundaries. Pakistan will respond instantly and effectively in a befitting way on borders violations Khawaja Asif, Defence Minister
set up between top army officers from the two sides to defuse tensions. In strongly worded televised remarks, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Saturday that the latest skirmishes were a reflection of the “nexus” between Kabul and New Delhi.
He said Kabul did not positively respond to efforts made by Islamabad to improve relations with Afghanistan in recent months. Asif warned that Pakistan would respond “fittingly” to Afghanistan if any further violations were committed along the border.
Also on Saturday, Samim Khpolwak, spokesman for the governor in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, said an overnight meeting between officials from both sides ended without a positive result.