Seven injured near Pak's Kurram along Afghan border: Report
Nov 21, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], November 21 : Seven people were injured in Pakistan following a firing incident across the Afghan border near Kurram District on Sunday.
The Dawn newspaper reported that the two children were among seven people, who sustained serious injuries. Livestock was also killed due to shelling from Taliban-led Afghanistan, the report added.
Sajid Hussain Turi, Pakistan's Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, condemned the firing incident. "Afghanistan's violation of Pakistan's Kurram border at Kharlachi and Borki and targeting the civilian population is condemnable," he said in a statement shared on Twitter.
While calling for an immediate ceasefire, Turi said the people of Kurram and the Pakistan Army know how to "protect their land and befittingly respond to any aggression".
Pakistan media reports said the Pakistan-Afghan border in Balochistan, remains closed as both sides failed to arrive at a consensus on reopening the crossing.
The Pak-Afghan border at Chaman was closed for an indefinite period after an armed man opened fire from the Afghan side, killing a Pakistani soldier, last week.
The incident left two security personnel injured and prompted the closure of the border between the two countries at Chaman, Balochistan, Dawn reported quoting official sources
During a flag meeting at Friendship Gate, the two sides discussed the need for a "joint mechanism" to put an end to incidents of violence at the border. The idea of joint interrogations has also been proposed to probe Sunday's incident, the report said.
"A joint mechanism would be evolved to stop such incidents in the future and both countries would cooperate in a probe in case of any future incident at the border," a senior border security official told Dawn.
Citing sources, the Pakistani daily reported that the Afghan Taliban officials also exchanged suggestions with Pakistani authorities for running the border affairs in a smooth way.
Following the incident last week, the trade between the two countries, including the Afghan transit trade, was suspended.
