Around 200 Afghans joined a protest on the streets of Kabul Saturday against what Afghanistan says are Pakistani rocket attacks which have left dozens of people dead. The protesters carried banners with slogans such as: “We condemn Pakistan’s invasion on to our soil” and calling the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) a “known enemy” of Afghanistan.
The demonstration broke up peacefully after a couple of hours, an AFP reporter at the scene said. Separately, the border police commander of eastern Afghanistan, General Aminullah Amarkhail, confirmed he submitted his resignation Thursday over the attacks.
A diplomatic spat has flared in recent days amid accusations over the rocket attacks which the Afghan government says could damage “improving trust and cooperation” between the two.
Amarkhail accused the Afghan government of keeping silent over what he called the “Pakistan invasion” of Afghanistan. He told AFP he had presented his resignation to the interior ministry and was waiting for them to accept it and appoint his successor. Amarkhail claims more than 400 rockets were fired into the border areas of Kunar province alone over the past 20 days that killed over a dozen civilians.
Afghanistan and Pakistan share a 2,400 kilometre (1,500 mile) porous border. Taliban-led militants are known to use hideouts in Pakistan to launch strikes in Afghanistan. Earlier this week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai met the head of Pakistan’s army, General Ashfaq Kayani, in Kabul to demand an end to rocket attacks.