By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
February 20, 2023
Pakistani and Afghan border guards exchanged fire at a key crossing between the two neighbors on February 20, Pakistani officials said.
There were no immediate reports about casualties on either side after the incident at the Torkham border crossing, which has been closed since February 19.
An official from Torkham told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal on condition of anonymity that the Pakistani border guards had come under fire from the Afghan side, manned by Taliban forces.
Taliban officials said they had closed the Torkham border crossing following Pakistan’s failure to fulfill a pledge that it would allow the movement for Afghans without valid travel documents for medical purposes.
Neither side has made any official comment about the situation at Torkham so far.
Occasional clashes have taken place between Pakistani and Taliban forces in the border area despite a relative improvement in relations after the radical movement returned to power in August 2021 following the departure of U.S.-led international forces.
But Pakistan has recently tightened security measures and controls at the border crossings with Afghanistan since the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ended a cease-fire with the government in November.
TTP militants are known to have been sheltering in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Shots could be heard in videos posted on social media from the area, although it remained unclear who was firing.
Separately, a gunbattle erupted late on February 19 between Pakistani troops and Taliban forces in Durbaba, a town in the Afghan province of Nangarhar close to Torkham. One Taliban fighter was killed in the exchange of fire, Radio Mashaal reported.
There was no official reaction about the incident from either side.
Both the Torkham and Chaman border crossings, which are critical for landlocked Afghanistan, have been temporarily closed in the past.