At least four people have been killed and about 70 more injured in a suspected strike by Pakistan, according to the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan. “The attack occurred just outside a dangerous crossing point,” added the report, adding to a strained relationship between the neighbouring countries.
Supporters of the Taliban leadership said the attack was carried out in civilian areas and inflicted many deaths, including women and children. The area was not spared: emergency responders said they had been dispatched to the areas where the attacks took place, and injured people were sent to nearby medical clinics for treatment.
The local sources said there were scenes of panic and disruption in houses, and infrastructure was razed. The Taliban has blamed the attack on Pakistan, but officials from Pakistan point out it did not occur on the spot. Most often, these would-be events are associated with cross-border operations in recent years to target militant hideouts, but the verification of that is much more difficult due to geographic access barriers across the region.
The Taliban strongly denounced the attack, saying the acts violate Afghan sovereignty, and if the attacks continue, the violence will be deadly. Although they are entitled to take part, the particulars of the actions were not precisely outlined, the spokesperson said. Tensions on the ground have always been strong in Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly over such border posts.
In such cases, Islamabad criticises militant organisations operating on Afghan territory for a long time, and Kabul blames Pakistan for one-sided attacks within Afghan territorial sovereignty. But its lack of official diplomatic recognition for the Taliban regime has made it harder to discuss with each other increasingly, whereas having too many unknown soldiers in Afghanistan might also pose the risk of misinterpretations and escalation of tensions between the two countries.
Some have demanded that the violence be studied by an independent inquiry, while others said international observers should simply present the facts. But that also creates a risk of escalation, poses a threat to regional security, and the system needs to change, and if it does. Such matters, in fact, can certainly be a threat to raise tensions and conflict in two countries that can't be resolved because they are so interlinked as borders.
