Across the Durand Line, Pakistani security forces and Afghan Taliban continue to exchange fire. On Friday, incidents occurred in hamlets like Ganjgaal, Sarkano, and Kunar in the Bajaur region. Local media reports and videos tweeted by journalists show both sides firing at each other. According to some reports, the firing lasted for 30 minutes.
Two Pakistani soldiers were shot dead by a sniper, who reportedly belonged to the Taliban, as they were installing a border fence. In response, the Pakistani side fired at border hamlets, prompting retaliation from the Afghan side. Reports further revealed that shells and artillery were fired at the villagers in the area, leading to heavy clashes.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack on federal minister Shibli Faraz in Darra Adam Khel on December 19, in which his bodyguard and driver were injured. In the latest border clashes, Pakistan and the Taliban claim to have settled the row over the border fence by agreeing to further work on the project. This hass has led to a tense situation through consensus.
According to a senior official who spoke to a group of journalists on Friday, it had been decided that fencing-related issues would in the future be resolved by mutual agreement. The official did not specify at what level the talks were held between Pakistan and the de facto Afghan government. This was after Wednesday’s incident in which Taliban fighters disrupted border fencing and took barbed wire. Pakistan has fenced its 2600 kilometers of border with Afghanistan since 2017 to prevent terrorist infiltration and smuggling despite fierce opposition from Afghanistan, according to the report.
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Along with the construction of a fence, the project will also include border posts and fortifications. A new Frontier Corps wing will also be raised, the paramilitary force that guards the border. An official reported that 90% of the border fencing has been completed. Due to the Afghan dispute over the border demarcation made during the colonial period, fences have been a contentious issue in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. Pakistan opposes Afghan Pashtuns’ delineation of country borders based on the Durand Line. As a result of the differences over the status of the border, there have been several clashes between the troops of both countries in the past.
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