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Pakistan, Afghanistan Blame Each Other for Clashes at Torkham Border

© AFP 2023 SHAFIULLAH KAKARTaliban security personnel stand guard along a road after gunfire erupted between Afghanistan and Pakistan border forces at Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Nangarhar province on February 20, 2023.
Taliban security personnel stand guard along a road after gunfire erupted between Afghanistan and Pakistan border forces at Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Nangarhar province on February 20, 2023. - Sputnik India, 1920, 21.02.2023
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Torkham, located at the border of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar provinces, is a key trading point between the two nations.
Pakistan and Afghan authorities have blamed each other after violent clashes erupted between the two countries' security forces at the Torkham border post on Monday following its closure 24 hours earlier.
According to officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan, border guards exchanged fire at around 7.30 am Kabul time, with Islamabad confirming that a Pakistani soldier was injured in the gun battle.

"The fighting started between two check posts on the top area. One of them belongs to Pakistan and the other belongs to our Ministry of Defense," Karimullah Agha, an Afghan intelligence officer associated with Taliban's Defense Ministry based at Torkham told reporters.

Meanwhile, Irshad Momand, a Pakistan administration official at the border gate informed the media that Pakistani troops only shot back after the Afghans began their "unprovoked" gunfire.
"The firing was initiated by the Afghan side and our forces retaliated," Mohmand said.
However, another Afghan government officer Harfat Muhajir, quickly refuted their claims, saying his country's border guards only fired in self-defense after coming under heavy firing from the Pakistani side.
In this picture taken on February 2, 2023, a Pakistan border policeman is pictured from the zero point Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Nangarhar province. - Sputnik India, 1920, 20.02.2023
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Taliban Closes Border Crossing With Pakistan, Alleging Accord Breach
The violent clashes between the border guards of the two countries came a day after the Taliban's Torkham commissioner Maulavi Mohammad Siddique announced that the vital border crossing would be closed due to a breach of commitments from Pakistan.
"Pakistan has not abided by its commitments and so the gateway has been shut down on the directions of (our) leadership," he wrote on Twitter.
While neither Kabul nor Islamabad have commented on why the Torkham border was closed, reports in Afghan media said that the decision came after Pakistan denied access to Afghan nationals visiting the neighboring nation for medical treatment.
Pakistan's move came after the Shehbaz Sharif government announced a new set of rules for Afghans, making legal documents mandatory to enter the country for any kind of medical treatment.
But Pakistani government official Momand stated that senior officials from the Taliban and the Pakistan government have already begun discussions over the matter, and the issue was expected to be resolved in a day or two.
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