Afghan officials have said that artillery shells fired by Pakistani forces on Wednesday Afghanistan fell on the villages of, killing at least five villagers.
The incident took place in Sarkanu district of Kannada province, bordering Pakistan, which has been a victim of cross-border shelling in the past.
Abdul Ghani Mosmeem, a spokesman for the governor of Kannada, told AFP that Pakistani security forces were erecting a fence along the Durand Line when they opened fire on an Afghan security check post in Sarkano.
He said, ‘When the Afghan forces retaliated, they (Pakistani forces) started using heavy artillery on the villages of Sarkanu district. Five villagers have been killed and ten more injured in this shelling.
Pakistani security officials did not immediately comment on the news.
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Kannada provincial police spokesman Fareed Dehqan confirmed the incident but said six civilians were killed and eight others injured in the shelling.
He said that some shells also fell in Asadabad, the provincial capital of Kannada. Kannada local government official Habibullah Wazir said that on Tuesday, unknown assailants from Kannada fired a mortar, injuring a woman and destroying her house in Bajaur district.
The Pakistan-Afghanistan border is 2,400 km long with villages located on both sides of the border and mosques and houses with one entrance in Pakistan and the other in Afghanistan.
Incidents of cross-border shelling have been regularly reported, often resulting in the deaths of civilians on both sides.
Pakistani media had earlier reported that militant organizations in Kannada province, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had given news of shelling by Pakistani security forces on suspected hideouts.
In February, authorities in Pakistan said seven members of a Pakistani family were killed in Bajaur when a mortar shell fired from Kunar province hit their home.
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2024-07-25 04:30:13
