Three Afghan civilians were killed in a border clash between Pakistan and Afghanistan security forces, a spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul said on Tuesday.
The clashes took place late on Monday near the southwestern border crossing of Torkham after Pakistani border forces opened fire on Afghan border forces, said Mufti Abdul Mateen, the spokesman for Afghanistan’s interior ministry.
Three Afghan civilians including a woman and two children were killed when Pakistani troops fired at their homes near the Torkham border crossing, he added.
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“Seven civilians were wounded on the Pakistani side when the Taliban fighters fired with heavy weapons and artillery”, local border official Shaiq Ali confirmed.
“Hundreds of Pakistani families fled their homes from villages near the border overnight after the clashes began,” Ali said.
An attempt by the Taliban fighters to build a check post only a few meters from the border triggered the clash, Ali said. There was no explanation from the Afghan side.
The deadly clashes between the security forces of Pakistan and Afghanistan have become routine since the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021.
Islamabad blames Kabul for aiding Islamist militants who launch deadly cross-border attacks against the security forces and civilians in Pakistan from their alleged hideouts in Afghanistan. The Taliban deny the allegations.
Clashes often break out between the neighboring security forces along the border, which was drawn up decades ago during British colonial rule and long been disputed.
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