PESHAWAR: A tense calm prevailed in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas on Tuesday, a day after Pakistan carried out “counter-terrorism intelligence operations” across the border, leading to a massive buildup at several places along the volatile border.
A jirga of local dignitaries and the military from both sides also met in the morning to secure a ceasefire. However, bilateral trade remained suspended at the Kurram, North and South Waziristan border crossings as traders were reluctant to take risks amid bilateral tensions.
Pakistan carried out strikes inside the neighboring country in response to the March 16 terrorist attack in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, in which seven Pakistani soldiers, including two officers, were martyred. The Foreign Office said Pakistan was forced to take this extreme measure.
According to the Foreign Office, the target of the operation was terrorists belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, which, along with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Pakistan that have killed hundreds of people. civilians and law enforcement officials.
Following Monday’s pre-dawn attacks, Taliban commander for Panjshir Abdul Hamed Khurasani at Zero Point in Dandi-e-Pathan, Paktia province, noted a heavy buildup in Afghanistan’s border areas.
Forces loyal to another Taliban commander, Qari Himmat, attacked various Pakistani posts with heavy and light weapons, while clashes were reported in Angor Adda in South Waziristan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) district in the evening.
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By dawn on Tuesday, most all border points were claimed, although a high alert was still in effect on both sides. Afghan officials also asked people to refrain from spreading unofficial statements and videos on social media accounts.
In Kabul, the Taliban government said its border forces attacked Pakistani posts along the border with “heavy weapons” on Monday, but added that the fighting had ended on Tuesday. “The situation is calm, the fighting has stopped,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.
A senior police officer in Kurram district told AFP that Afghan forces hit the area with mortar shells, partially damaging three posts and five civilian houses and injuring nine people. “The border is quiet today and the security forces have strengthened their positions,” he added.
The two neighbors had been at loggerheads over the outlawed TTP, and the relationship further deteriorated after Islamabad decided to deport all Afghans residing illegally in the country. A number of Afghan Taliban leaders have recently issued strong statements criticizing Pakistan’s policy.
More than 500,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan after Islamabad set a November deadline for undocumented migrants to leave or face arrest, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in January.
But despite the latest flare-up in bilateral relations, authorities in Peshawar said they would resume efforts to deport Afghan migrants from the country next month. “The second phase of repatriation of illegal Afghan immigrants will start after Eid,” a senior official in K-P told AFP.
“However, the specifics of this phase have not yet been released,” the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The K-P police has been directed to identify the places where illegal Afghan residents are staying,” he added.
