QUETTA – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the firing byAfghan forces on the civilian in Chaman and called on the Taliban-ledgovernment not to repeat such incidents in the future.
In a tweet, the premier called unprovoked shelling and firing by Afghanborder forces ‘unfortunate’, saying such attack deserves the strongestcondemnations.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Office strongly condemned the unprovoked andindiscriminate Afghan shelling in Chaman, Balochistan that killed at leastsix people and injured over a dozen.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said such unfortunate incidents are notin keeping with the brotherly ties between the two countries and mentionedthat the authorities in the neighboring country have been informed that therecurrence of such incidents must be avoided and the strictest possibleaction must be taken against those responsible.
Reiterating the responsibility of both sides to protect civilians along theborder, Pakistan said both sides remain in contact to ensure that there isno further escalation of the situation and recurrence of such incidents isavoided.
The tragic incident occurred late Sunday when Afghan Taliban attacked aresidential area at the Pak-Afghan Chaman border which killed at least sixpeople and left 17 injured, with one minor among the deceased.
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Kandahar’s governor’s spokesman told an international publication that theincident occurred due to the construction of new checkpoints on thePak-Afghan border.
Chaman border, one of the major international border crossings betweenPakistan and Afghanistan was briefly closed for trade and movement ofcitizens after the incident.
Pakistan’s army spokesperson on Sunday confirmed that the Afghan forcesused artillery and heavy weapons to target the civilian population.Pakistani border troops have given a befitting albeit measured responseagainst the uncalled for aggression, but avoided targeting innocentcivilians in the area, ISPR said.
