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Pakistan PM calls on IEA to ensure border clashes are not repeated
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to ensure that border clashes are not repeated.
This comes after a clash at the Spin-Boldak-Chaman crossing on Sunday left at least six Pakistani civilians and one IEA border guard dead.
The IEA said Pakistani forces had opened fire; however the Pakistani army said the IEA border forces had opened “unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery/mortar onto the civilian population”.
The crossing, which links Pakistan’s western Balochistan province with Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province has been the scene of clashes in the past few weeks.
Sharif condemned Sunday’s incident and said on Twitter that “unprovoked shelling & fire by Afghan Border Forces at Chaman resulting in martyrdom of several Pakistani citizens & injuring more than a dozen is unfortunate & deserves the strongest condemnation.”
Reuters quoting Afghan security sources said the clash started after Pakistani forces demanded Afghan forces stop building a new check post on their side of the border.
Kandahar police spokesman Hafiz Saber said one IEA member was killed and 10 other people, including three civilians, were injured.
The busy Afghan border crossing at Chaman, used for trade and transit, was closed for some hours before reopening, officials on both sides said. The crossing was closed for several days last month after similar clashes.
The Ministry of Interior has announced the delivery of several new, modern cars to the General Directorate of Traffic Police, replacing the older fleet that consisted mostly of trucks.
According to a ministry statement, the new vehicles, equipped with special traffic police colors, markings, and modern equipment, are expected to play a key role in maintaining traffic order in cities and on main roads, preventing accidents, and providing faster services to the public.
Azerbaijan has released 14 Afghan nationals from its prisons, Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.
The ministry said in a statement that the release happened following efforts by Afghanistan’s embassy in Baku.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its appreciation to Azerbaijan and relevant authorities for their cooperation and humanitarian action. It also reaffirmed that the IEA will continue to follow up on and resolve the cases of Afghan prisoners.
Former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, says Washington is largely satisfied with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) efforts against terrorism, though progress in broader relations remains hindered by the issue of prisoners.
In an interview with NDTV, Khalilzad said the United States views the detention of at least two American citizens in Afghanistan as the primary obstacle to improving ties.
Khalilzad highlighted what he described as a “significant degree of satisfaction” in the U.S. assessment of the IEA’s counterterrorism commitments under the Doha Agreement. He said the IEA continue to fight Daesh, a group they have long considered an enemy. Many Daesh militants, he added, have been pushed out of Afghanistan and are now in Pakistan.
At the same time, Khalilzad said concerns remain regarding human rights and the political role of non-IEA Afghans.
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