Afghan govt apologised for shelling at Chaman border: Khawaja Asif.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that the interim government in Kabul has apologised to Pakistan for firing by Afghan Border Forces on the civilian population in Balochistan’s Chaman district a day earlier, clarifying that the “matter is now resolved”.
At least seven people lost their lives and 16 others suffered injuries on Sunday in Chaman when it came under “unprovoked and indiscriminate” heavy gunfire and artillery shelling by Afghan border forces, according to the military’s media affairs wing.
The incident has been widely condemned across the political divide in Pakistan.
Addressing the matter in a National Assembly session today, Asif said that the “provocation at Chaman was from the Afghan side”.
“There was a portion of the fence damaged […] our people were repairing it […] they slammed the fence with a jeep […] they took the stand that the reparation work should have been referred in the border security committee.
“When the matter escalated, they opened fire. In the first round of fire, no casualties occurred. But later when they used heavy ammunition […] because of that five of our civilians were martyred and two passed away on the way to Quetta,” he detailed.
In response, Asif said, Pakistan fired on the Afghan post which resulted in casualties of eight to nine Afghan soldiers.
“After that, the border security committee met again and it was agreed that Afghanistan was at fault […] we believe that there was no motive behind this […] there is no evidence of any planning behind the attack.”
The minister revealed that the Afghan authorities had admitted their mistake and promised that such incidents won’t happen in the future.
“But speaker sahab, one thing is clear that the internal situation of Afghanistan is being reflected in its relations with Pakistan,” Asif stressed.
He added that Pakistan was a well-wisher of Afghanistan and wanted the situation there to improve, promising that “we will fully cooperate for Afghan peace”.
PM Shehbaz asks Afghan authorities to ensure such incidents are not repeated
Earlier today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the firing in the Chaman district and called on the Afghan government to ensure that such incidents were not repeated in the future.
In a tweet on Monday, the premier said the “unprovoked shelling and fire by Afghan Border Forces at Chaman, resulting in [the] martyrdom of several Pakistani citizens and injuring more than a dozen, is unfortunate and deserves the strongest condemnation”.
