PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani and Afghan forces traded fire overnight at a key northwestern border crossing that has been closed for more than a week over a dispute between the two neighbors, officials said Monday.
No casualties were reported on either side of the Torkham crossing, which has been shut for 11 days due to Pakistan disputing Afghanistan’s construction of a new border post there.
Both countries have in the past closed Torkham and the southwestern Chaman border crossing, most often over deadly shootings and cross-fire. The crossings are vital for trade and travel between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan.
A Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said that Taliban security forces opened fire unprovoked in the early hours of Monday, targeting Pakistan’s border post with automatic weapons. Pakistani personnel returned fire, the official said.
There was no comment on the exchange from the Taliban government in Kabul.
But a local official in eastern Nangarhar province blamed the Pakistanis, saying they attacked border police who were busy with construction inside Afghan territory.
“Provocative actions” by the Pakistani side undermined efforts to reopen the border, the official added. He also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Thousands of trucks and vehicles were stranded on both sides of the Torkham crossing, leaving people stuck in harsh winter conditions.
