Authorities in Pakistan believe that both border coordination and overall relationship between Islamabad and Kabul have improved in the recent months, however, the fault lies in the chain of command in Afghanistan for igniting border flare-ups, sources reported.
On July 1, two Pakistani soldiers were wounded when a rocket was fired at an under-construction border gate in the Angoor Adda area in South Waziristan Agency.
Small arms fire was followed forcing Pakistani troops to retaliate.
Subsequently, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Kabul Abrar Hussain was summoned to the Afghan foreign ministry on July 3 to protest what Afghan forces claimed was ‘cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops’.
The next day, Afghanistan’s Ambassador in Islamabad Janan Mosazai was called to the Foreign Office to protest the cross-border firing and detention of a Pakistani consulate official in Kandahar by Afghan authorities.
An official revealed that both sides had mutually agreed to the construction of a gate on ‘Angoor Adda’ border, however, Afghanistan’s ‘weak chain of command’ made the Afghan forces attack Pakistan on the same issue.
