Fresh violence has erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as a short-lived Eid ceasefire collapsed, leaving at least two civilians dead and several
others wounded in renewed shelling. Ziaur Rahman Speenghar, a director at the information and culture department in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, said Pakistani forces fired dozens of artillery shells into the Narai and Sarkano districts, killing two civilians and wounding eight others after the ceasefire expired. The brief truce had been announced by the two sides ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Afghan border forces returned fire, he told AP, claiming they destroyed three Pakistani military posts and killed one person. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan’s military, however, a local Pakistani official in the northwest accused Afghan forces of initiating the exchange of fire in multiple areas.
Deadly clashes come week after Kabul hospital strike
The latest violence comes about a week after both sides agreed to halt hostilities following Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. The pause followed Pakistani strikes that the Afghan Taliban government said hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, killing more than 400 people. At the time of the attack, at least 2,000 people were undergoing rehabilitation at the drug treatment hospital. Pakistan has denied targeting civilians, saying it struck an ammunition depot.
Also Read: One Airstrike, 400 Dead: How Pakistan's Bombing Of a Kabul Hospital Became One of the Worst Incidents In Afghanistan's History
Separately, the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said it had resumed attacks inside Pakistan after observing its own three-day Eid ceasefire. The TTP, which is separate from but allied to the Afghan Taliban, has stepped up attacks inside Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Pakistan accuses Kabul of sheltering TTP leaders and thousands of members who carry out cross-border attacks. Kabul denies the charge, but Pakistan has vowed to continue targeting TTP and its supporters inside Afghanistan until Afghanistan's Taliban government assures that it will not allow TTP and other militants to use the Afghan soil for attacks.
The TTP has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the United Nations.
(With AP inputs)
