News
Monday, July 23, 2012
Border shelling puts Pak-Afghan ties at risk* Afghan deputy FM summons Pakistan's envoy over shelling
* Says continuation of such incidents ‘could have significant negative impact on bilateral relations’
KABUL, ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan warned Pakistan on Sunday that any further cross-border shelling could significantly harm relations, just days after the leaders of the two strife-torn neighbours met to talk peace.
More than 300 heavy artillery shells and rockets were fired from Pakistan into Dangam district of eastern Kunar province on Friday and Saturday, killing at least four people, provincial spokesman Wasifullah Wasifi told AFP.
Last month, an alleged barrage of cross-border fire from Pakistan into Kunar forced thousands of villagers to flee their homes, officials said, after Islamabad accused Kabul of giving safe haven to militants who infiltrated to kill 13 Pakistani soldiers.
Afghanistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin on Sunday summoned Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul to discuss the latest barrage of periodic shelling across the Durand Line, an Afghan Foreign Ministry statement said.
"Any continuation of such reported shelling against Afghan villages could have a significant negative impact on bilateral relations," the statement quoted Ludin as telling ambassador Muhammad Sadiq.
Both sides agreed to hold a senior-level meeting of military officials soon in Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad over the shelling and improve military coordination along the Durand Line, the statement said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said the issue was raised in a meeting of the national security council on Sunday and security officials were instructed "to put into place all due actions necessary", without elaborating.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, in response to a question at a joint news conference with Karzai on Thursday, said Pakistan was also attacked from Afghanistan and the issue had been raised in a meeting between the two leaders.
"Same like, from this side, from Kunar side, we get attacks on our armed forces, on our civilians. So we have discussed all these things, and now we have to do our utmost... to control such happenings," Ashraf said.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani military official refuted the Afghan officials’ claim that Pakistani troops fired 300 rockets across border in Afghanistan. “Pakistani troops only respond and engage militants from where they are attacked/fired upon.”
Afghanistan and Pakistan blame each other for violence by the Taliban plaguing both sides of their porous border.
During the past one year, almost 15 cross-border attacks have been carried out by militants on Pakistani checkposts and civil population in Dir and Chitral in which more than 100 civilian and security forces’ personnel have died.
According to certain reports, a faction of the Taliban, led by Maulana Fazlullah, are based across the border, while some other militants are camped near the Bajaur area in Afghanistan.
Pakistan wants to target militant bases from where raids are carried out against Pakistani posts in the border region. A couple of weeks ago, Pakistan strongly recorded its protest with the Afghan government and the ISAF over not taking steps against militants’ safe haven in the bordering areas of Afghanistan. afp/staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk